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Economics - Raising Money 2

Then there is fridge disposal. Perhaps not a tax, exactly, but from the start of 2002 an obligation was imposed on all fridge and freezer owners to ensure that, under the Ozone Depleting Substances Regulations, the foam is stripped out before a fridge is recycled or scrapped. Local authorities will have to bear the cost of doing this, and the Government gave them £6 million to help between January and the end of March. But fridge owners still have to get their appliances to the councils. If they cannot drop a fridge off themselves, they can ask the council to collect it, but councils can make a charge (usually £5 or £10). Fridge disposal is a live issue at the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) because the UK does not yet have the required foam-stripping facilities and most of the £6m has gone on storage. An announcement is due soon, but Defra insists that fridge owners will not be asked to pay towards the foam-stripping cost.

FloodAnother Defra issue is the flood levy, which is now out for consultation. In the consultation documents, possible rates for the levy are cited at between £10 and £200 per household. The authors of the consultation papers say the levy 'could be seen as an additional tax burden on those occupying the flood plain' and would need to be phased in slowly. Other ways of raising money for flood defences are also examined, including a charge on developers who build on flood plains. Under either plan, the people who would end up footing the bill - local residents - would be those directly affected. Not exactly redistributive. See also: Flood Insurance

Yet another tax being considered by Defra is a replication of Ireland's €0.15 (9p) tax on plastic bags, introduced this month. Instead of giving bags away free to customers, shops have to charge 15 cents. The move is intended to discourage people from using plastic bags profligately. A spokesman for Defra said, "This is an interesting idea. We will be interested to see any assessment they make of the success of their scheme."

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