TABLE 6.1
TABLE 6.1
Country Hungary
Latvia
Lithuania
FYRMacedonia
Poland
Romania
Sales/excise tax Sales tax:
Motor<1600cm3 - with catalytic converter: 10%
of customs values - no catalytic converter:
32% of customs value
Motor>1600cm3 - with catalytic converter: 20%
of customs value - no catalytic converter:
32% of customs value
Excise tax based on the age of the vehi-cle (EUR 134-446)
Excise tax of 15% of the value of import-ed vehicles
Excise tax of 25% of the vehicle value Excise tax:
Motor>2000cm3 - 17.6% of the value of the vehicle Motor<2000cm3 - 6.4% of the value of the vehicle Excise tax, which is depen-dent on engine capacity and pollution level (high, normal, low)
Import tax26 Car<4 years:
- with catalytic converter: 13%
of customs value - no catalytic converter:
18% of cus-toms value Car>4 years:
- with catalytic converter: 43%
of customs value - no catalytic converter:
48% of cus-toms value
-5 to 10 year-old cars: 5% of the value of the vehicle Cars older than 10 years: 10%
of the value of the vehicle Rate depend-ing on the age of the vehicle 10% of the value of the vehicle (for cars imported from EU and candidate countries)
20% of the retail price
Annual vehicle taxes
Annual vehicle tax based on the weight of the vehi-cle(0.023-0.038 EUR/kg)
Annual vehicle tax based on the weight of the vehi-cle (EUR 13-178);
Registration charge (EUR 2.5)
Annual vehicle tax depending on the class of vehicle (light duty, heavy duty, special road vehicles: EUR 27-270); Registration charge
Annual vehicle tax; Road charges Annual vehicle tax applied to lorries and buses, based on load capacity (EUR 402-520);
Registration charge applied to all the vehicles
Annual vehicle tax (EUR 15-45);
Registration charge (EUR 20-40)
Toll roads Depending on the type of the vehi-cle (84-337 EUR/year)
-Single use of the road: EUR 2 for cars, EUR 5 for trucks
-Other/comments Incentive for younger cars with catalytic convert-ers; import of old cars banned.
Additional taxes levied on foreign vehicles.
The highest excise tax rates applied to new and very old vehicles; low-est rates for 5-7 year-old vehicles.
Additional tax on the use of roads paid by vehicles registered in other countries and vehicles exceed-ing standard dimensions.
Sales of cars older than 6 years are banned.
Import duties vary according to country of origin (up to 35%).
Annual vehicle tax is earmarked for environmental fund.
The Romanian Auto Register determines pollu-tion category, based on annual or bi-annual vehi-cle check-ups.
tion of economic instruments to influence the number of vehicles on the road and the age and environmental performance of the car fleet.
The potential of integrating further environmental criteria is directly linked to changes in the taxation of motor fuels. Differentiation of motor fuel taxes based on environmental cri-teria — such as content of sulphur, benzene and phosphorous — is, for example, com-monly applied in Scandinavian countries, as well as in Germany and Austria. The approach of tax differentiation could be a supporting instrument, as well as an alternative to regulato-ry measures, e.g. the maximum content of sulphur in motor fuels. If the tax differentiation is high enough, it could provide both producers and consumers with an incentive to switch over to more environmentally friendly motor fuels, and it could trigger a move to the imple-mentation of new technologies to produce such motor fuels.
TABLE 6.1
Country Slovakia
Slovenia Yugoslavia
Sales/excise tax
-n.a.
Sales tax: 17%
of vehicle value
Import tax26 7% of the value of imported car
n.a.
Depending on the engine capacity and age
Annual vehicle taxes
Commercial vehi-cles tax, differenti-ated according to engine size (cars:
EUR 30-130; lor-ries EUR 42-1,490);
Registration charges for all the vehicles
Registration charge Registration charge; Road taxes
Toll roads Annual fee differ-entiated accord-ing to engine size (EUR 9-19 for cars; EUR 70-140 for lorries)
-Depending on the type of vehicle
Other/comments Import of cars older than 5 years and with no cat-alytic converters is banned.
-Import of old vehicles banned recently.
7.1 INTRODUCTION
Several economic instruments are implemented in the water sector in CEECs. The objec-tive for the implementation of these instruments is manifold and their function can range from cost-covering user charges to incentive taxes. Wastewater charges can be classified as a type of economic instrument belonging to the latter category and they are the focus of Chapter 7.2. Chapter 7.3 examines water abstraction charges, which are common through-out the region. Cost-covering user charges for the supply of drinking water and for the ser-vice of sewerage are the theme of Chapter 7.4. Comparison between CEECs and other European countries are made throughout this chapter, and the need for further application of economic instruments in the water sector based on the requirements of the recently adopt-ed Water Framework Directive is discussadopt-ed in Chapter 7.5.
7.2 WASTEWATER CHARGES
Wastewater charges — sometimes also referred to as trade effluent taxes or charges — and/or non-compliance fees have been introduced in all of the 10 CEECs aiming to join the EU. Basic charge are normally linked to key pollutants and their permitted levels in the efflu-ent, while the usual base for non-compliance fees is violation of the law, i.e. discharge above the permitted level, or illegal discharge. This system is not exclusively used in these 10 coun-tries but also, for example, in Croatia.27The schemes implemented in CEECs have similarities to the taxation of air emissions in the sense that a charge with a lower rate is levied on emis-sions under the permitted level, and a higher penalty rate is levied on the emisemis-sions exceed-ing the permitted level. In recent years, the trend in water pollution charges in CEE has been the reduction of the number of chargeable pollutants, and the gradual increase of charge rates. As Table 7.1 shows, revenues generated by this type of charges are generally ear-marked for environmental investment measures; administrators of environmental funds are the key authorities in charge of disbursing the revenues.
Exceptions to this pattern (basic charge and non-compliance fee) are found in Hungary and Bulgaria, where only non-compliance fees are levied for discharges above the permit-ted level, and in the Czech Republic, where charges are levied on pollution above a certain level. The Czech Republic also levies charges on the quantity of wastewater — once the discharge exceeds 30,000 cubic meters a year. The base for the wastewater tax in Slovenia is a unit of pollution (defined as a quantity of the given pollutant — e.g. three kilograms of phosphorus; 25 kilograms of nitrogen), and emission standards. The scheme of taxes and charges implemented in the water sector in CEECs shows similarities with the schemes adopted by EU member states (RIZA 1995).
In the case of discharge through the sewage system, wastewater charges are normally determined through individual contracts between the polluters and the wastewater companies.
Exceptionally, Romanian environmental regulators determine wastewater charges for the dis-charge through the sewage system, even though local water companies collect the revenues.
In a number of countries, wastewater charges and/or non-compliance fees are calculat-ed bascalculat-ed on formulas developcalculat-ed to link the level of charge to the pollution load, level of haz-ard of the given pollutant, sensitivity of the recipient water bodies, duration of the dis-charge/pollution, etc. Although it is difficult to compare the level of charges in different countries (due to diverse charge schemes and lists of pollutants), a brief assessment shows that the highest rates for the key pollutants (biological oxygen demand, lead, nitrogen) can be found in Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Poland and the Baltic countries. Charges levied on
7. Economic Instruments in the Water Sector
TABLE 7.1