Taxation

The Taxation Policy related to climate change is outlined below.

Vehicle Registration Tax

The rebalancing of Motor Tax together with the initiative on Vehicle Registration Tax brings a strong emissions focus to the tax regimes for new vehicles registered since 1 July 2008 .  These changes were accompanied by a new labelling requirement for cars that help ensure the consumer is fully informed about the environmental and cost implications of choosing a particular car.  The 7.7% decrease in greenhouse gas emissions from the transport sector in 2009 from 14.21 Mt (2008) to 13.12 Mt reflects the changes to vehicle registration tax and road tax introduced in 2008 as well as the economic downturn.

The Accelerated Capital Allowance

The Accelerated Capital Allowance (ACA) is a tax incentive for companies in Ireland to purchase energy efficient equipment. It allows companies to write off 100% of the purchase value of specified energy efficient equipment in the year of purchase.

Carbon Tax

A Carbon Tax of €15 per tonne was introduced by the Government as part of the 2010 budget. Prices for petrol and diesel were affected immediately, rising 4.2 cent and 4.9 cent per litre. On 1^st May 2010 the tax was also applied to kerosene, liquid petroleum gas, fuel oil, marked gas oil and natural gas. The Government  plans to double the Carbon Tax by 2014 as part of the IMF/ECB agreed National Recovery Plan. For details of the plan go to www.rte.ie