LIGHTENING LABOUR’S LOAD AN ATLAS OF GREEN TAX ALTERNATIVES

The report presents a series of expert contributions from Green movements in 16 European countries, arguing that labour taxes are often the primary source of government revenue and should be shifted toward taxes on pollution, capital, and resource use. Proposed alternatives include carbon taxes, wealth taxes, and taxes on automated work, while improvements to labour taxation focus on increasing progressivity, introducing negative income taxes for low earners, and simplifying tax codes.

• Green parties across Europe propose shifting the tax burden away from labour toward environmental impacts, including the abolition of fossil fuel subsidies—estimated at 15 billion euros annually in Italy—and the introduction of taxes on CO2 emissions, pollution, and resource use such as land, water, and air.
• To address income and wealth inequality, several Green organisations advocate for increased taxation on capital, including wealth taxes, financial transaction taxes, and higher taxes on dividends and capital gains to prevent high earners from converting income into lighter-taxed assets.
• Proposed improvements to labour taxation focus on increasing progressivity, with specific suggestions including the implementation of negative labour taxes or refundable tax credits for low-income earners and higher marginal rates for the highest earners.
• Specific innovative tax proposals include a tax on automated, non-human work (such as robots and self-driving cars) in Sweden, and the use of differentiated VAT based on environmental and social objectives to reward innovation and protect labour rights.
• Several countries highlight the need for systemic simplification and transparency in tax codes to combat tax evasion and reduce the complexity faced by citizens, particularly in the Netherlands and the Czech Republic.

APA

Zanchini, E., Paus, L., Dreary, M., Heatley, B., & Álvarez, A. M. (n.d.). LIGHTENING LABOUR’S LOAD AN ATLAS OF GREEN TAX ALTERNATIVES. Green European Journal. https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/gej17-tax-atlas.pdf

Chicago

Zanchini, Edoardo, Lisa Paus, Mark Dreary, Brian Heatley, and Ana Maria Álvarez. LIGHTENING LABOUR’S LOAD AN ATLAS OF GREEN TAX ALTERNATIVES. Green European Journal, n.d. https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/gej17-tax-atlas.pdf.

Wikipedia

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BibTeX

@techreport{zanchinindlightening, author = {Zanchini, Edoardo and Paus, Lisa and Dreary, Mark and Heatley, Brian and Álvarez, Ana Maria}, title = {{LIGHTENING LABOUR’S LOAD AN ATLAS OF GREEN TAX ALTERNATIVES}}, institution = {Green European Journal}, url = {https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/gej17-tax-atlas.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }