Towards a double-sided green tax system
The report Towards a double-sided green tax system, prepared by Afi for Oxfam Intermon, is a collaborative project that analyzes the Spanish tax system with the purpose of designing a green tax model that combines environmental efficiency and social justice, also incorporating the dimension of wealth.
This report is based on comprehensive research on the current state of the Spanish tax system, organized around the following axes:
- An intensive search for Spain's climate commitments in the European and international framework, together with the study of cases of good practices in other countries.
- An exhaustive analysis of green taxation at the national level and its regulatory framework, taking into account its weight in the Spanish tax system and compared to the European context.
- For the first time, a mapping at the regional level of the set of green taxation measures in the autonomous communities, with the objective of evaluating the coherence and consistency of the territorial fiscal mosaic.
- The identification of the key sectors on which environmental taxation should be reinforced to ensure efficiency and alignment with climate objectives.
- A redistributive analysis of the measures included in the White Paper on Tax Reform, focused on electrification and mobility, using micro simulation techniques based on updated microdata from the Family Budget Survey (EPF 2023).
- The use of EUROMOD, a European and international reference tool, to design and evaluate ex ante compensation measures integrated into the system tax-benefit, ensuring that the households most vulnerable or affected by the implementation of electrification and mobility measures do not disproportionately bear the costs of the ecological transition.
- An analysis of the current state of green taxation in the dimension of wealth in accordance with the principles of equity, efficiency and simplicity of the optimal tax design.
- An exercise by Benchmarking international on the taxation of wealth linked to polluting emissions and activities, which makes it possible to identify the relative position of Spain and to draw lessons from comparative policies.
- The design of specific proposals in the field of wealth taxation aimed at giving effect to the principle of “the polluter pays”
The findings and public policy proposals derived from this work not only enrich the academic debate, but they have made it possible to offer concrete recommendations to guide social dialogue and consensus-building around green taxation, serving as a basis for joint work with other civil society organizations working on this agenda.
On the other hand, within the framework of this collaboration, we have participated in the training cycle Strategies for communicating about green taxation, organized by Oxfam Intermon together with The Intersection. This project is supported by the European Climate Foundation, where the first introductory session on green taxation was held. The paper and material can be found at the following link: Training cycle on green taxation — Oxfam Intermon.
