奧地利生態(tài)稅制改革：——其他歐盟成員國的榜樣?（中英文對照）

作者：Robin Damberger(奧地利財政部)

日期：2022年2月3日

翻譯：思邁特財稅國際稅收服務(wù)團(tuán)隊

A new carbon pricing instrument

一種新的碳定價工具

In autumn 2021, the Austrian government presented its long announced eco-social tax reform as part of its climate strategy to minimize the Austrian green house gas emissions to net zeroby 2040. The Austrian Ecological Tax Reform Act contains a variety of climate and compensatory measures for citizens and companies. A central part of the tax reform is the implementation of a new explicit carbon pricing instrument, the national emission trading scheme (Nationales Emissionszertifikate handels gesetz– NEHG) applicable asof July 2022. The NEHG does not replace the existing energy taxes in Austriabut complements them. The following blog post describes the main elements of the NEHG in the context of the EU Fit for 55 Package. Moreover, the blog post analyses whether the Austrian ecological tax reform could serve as a blue print for other member states planning to implementa carbon pricing instrument.

2021年秋，奧地利政府提出了其長期以來宣布的生態(tài)社會稅改革，作為其氣候戰(zhàn)略的一部分，以最大限度地減少奧地利溫室氣體排放到2040年的凈零。奧地利生態(tài)稅收改革法案包含了對公民和公司的各種氣候和補(bǔ)償措施。稅收改革的一個核心部分是實施一種新的明確的碳定價工具，即2022年7月起適用的國家排放權(quán)交易機(jī)制（NEHG）。NEHG并沒有取代奧地利現(xiàn)有的能源稅，而是對其進(jìn)行了補(bǔ)充。以下的博客文章描述了NEHG在歐盟“Fit for 55一攬子行動計劃”（即減排55%）的背景下的主要元素。此外，文章分析了奧地利生態(tài)稅改革是否可以作為其他成員國計劃實施碳定價工具的藍(lán)圖。

The carbon pricing instrument aims to cover emissions outside the European Emission Trading Scheme (EU ETS). In the beginning, mainly CO2-emissions in the building and transport sectors will be covered by the NEHG. Looking at the allocation of CO2-emissions outside the EU-ETS this makes sense because the transport and building sectorsare responsible for approximately 40% (30% road sector10% buildings)of the total CO2-emissions in Austria. Particularly, the transport sector isresponsible for many emissions in Austria because of heavy traffic transitroutes in Tyrol.[1]

碳定價工具旨在涵蓋歐盟碳排放權(quán)交易體系(EUETS)以外的排放。在開始階段，建筑和運輸行業(yè)的主要二氧化碳排放將被NEHG覆蓋。通過觀察EU ETS之外的二氧化碳排放分配情況，這是有道理的，因為運輸和建筑行業(yè)約占奧地利二氧化碳總排放量的40%(道路行業(yè)占30%，建筑行業(yè)占10%)。特別是，運輸行業(yè)要為奧地利的許多排放負(fù)責(zé)，因為在蒂羅爾的運輸路線繁忙。

The NEHG is designed as an emission trading scheme and not as a carbon tax. However, during its initial phase, the NEHG will have a fixed price phase from July 2022 until 31 December 2025. The fixed prices will gradually increase from € 30 in 2022, to € 35 in 2023, € 45 in 2024 and € 55 in 2025 per tonne CO2.In addition to that, the maximum number of available allowances is not limitedin the initial phase. This will change with the market phase, at the beginning of 2026. Yet, the law contains no further provisions on the concrete design ofthe market phase. More details are expected to follow after the evaluation ofthe NEHG at the end of 2024. This evaluation is stipulated by Art. 19 of the NEHG. Part of the evaluation is the determination of the specific form of the market phase of the NEHG.

NEHG的設(shè)計是作為一種排放權(quán)交易機(jī)制，而不是碳稅。然而，在初始階段，NEHG將從2022年7月至2025年12月31日實行固定價格階段。每噸二氧化碳的固定價格將從2022年的30美元逐漸提高到2023年的35美元、2024年的45美元、2025年的55美元。此外，在最初階段可用配額的最大數(shù)量不受限制。這將隨著2026年初的市場階段而改變。但是，法律對市場階段的具體設(shè)計沒有進(jìn)一步的規(guī)定。在2024年底對NEHG進(jìn)行評估后，預(yù)計將公布更多細(xì)節(jié)。這項評估是NEHG第19條規(guī)定的。評估的一部分是確定NEHG市場階段的具體形式。

Although the NEHG does not establish acarbon tax, the carbon pricing instrument follows in central parts the logic of existing energy taxes (fuel tax, coal tax, and natural gas tax)that are based on the Energy Taxation Directive (ETD). Thus, if acertain event is taxable under the existing energy taxes, an obligation to buy allowances arises under the NEHG. Taxable events under energy taxes are the production, importation, or release of energy products from a tax warehouse in Austria or the supply of coal and natural gas to consumers. In practice, only alimited number of energy distributors and oil companies are responsible for the payment of energy taxes, while the broad crowd of consumers is usually outside of their personal scope. Following the same logic as energy taxes, the distributors of energy products (upstream) are subject to the NEHG as intermediaries to the emitters, the number of participants to the NEHG thus being relatively low. The NEHG, therefore, differs from the EU ETS under which the emitters (operators ofinstallations) are subject to the instrument (downstream). Furthermore, only energy products listed in Annex 1 NEHG are subject to the NEHG. The list of covered energy products includes, among others, petrol, diesel, heating oil,coal, natural gas. The exhaustive list of covered products could be expanded with a regulation in the future. Electricity is not subject to the NEHG because power plants or other installations above 20 MW of thermal output are covered by the EU ETS.

盡管NEHG沒有設(shè)立碳稅，但碳定價工具的核心部分遵循了現(xiàn)有能源稅(燃油稅、煤炭稅和天然氣稅)的邏輯，這些能源稅是基于能源稅收指令(ETD)。因此，如果某一特定事件按照現(xiàn)有的能源稅征稅，NEHG就有義務(wù)購買配額。能源稅下的應(yīng)稅事件是指從奧地利稅收倉庫生產(chǎn)、進(jìn)口或釋放能源產(chǎn)品，或向消費者供應(yīng)煤炭和天然氣。在實踐中，只有少數(shù)能源分銷商和石油公司負(fù)責(zé)支付能源稅，而廣大消費者通常不在他們的個人范圍內(nèi)。按照與能源稅相同的邏輯，能源產(chǎn)品的分銷商(上游)作為排放者的中間人受NEHG的約束，因此NEHG參與者的數(shù)量相對較少。因此，NEHG不同于EU ETS，在該體系下，排放者(裝置運營商)受儀器(下游)的約束。此外，只有附件1所列的能源產(chǎn)品受NEHG管轄。受保護(hù)的能源產(chǎn)品包括汽油、柴油、取暖油、煤、天然氣等。涵蓋產(chǎn)品的詳盡清單在未來可能會隨著一項規(guī)定而擴(kuò)大。電力不受NEHG的約束，因為發(fā)電量超過20兆瓦的發(fā)電廠或其他設(shè)施都受EU ETS的保護(hù)。

The implementation of the NEHG is flanked by several measures to reduce unwanted effects of carbon pricing instruments. For example, the Austrian government implements a so-called “regional climate bonus”, a sort of regionalized climate dividend, which will be paid to allcitizens with a primary residence in Austria as a compensatory measure for the novel carbon price. The amount of the regional climate bonus depends on the place of residency of the recipient. Citizens living in the countryside receive a higher amount of the regional climate bonus (up to €200/year) than citizens living in urban areas (€100/year in Vienna). The basic idea is that citizens living in urban areas havebetter access to public transport than citizens living in the countryside. The regional climate bonus shall increase in case carbon prices rise in the future.The NEHG also contains compensatory measures for businesses. For example,agricultural and forestry undertakings will get a lump-sum reimbursement for additional costs induced by the NEHG based on the type of usage. Specific sectors of the economy which are particularly hit by the NEHG and exposed to risks of carbon leakage will be refunded partially for the additional burden resulting from the carbon price. This includes especially energy-intenseindustries who are, pursuant to Article 10 b of Directive 2003/87/EC,deemed to be at risk of carbon leakage. In addition to that, companies that are particularly affected by the NEHG (e.g. in the transport sector) can also applyfor partial refund of the carbon price to avoid hardship cases.

NEHG的實施伴隨著幾項措施，以減少碳定價工具的不良影響。例如，奧地利政府實施了所謂的區(qū)域氣候紅利，一種區(qū)域化的氣候紅利，將發(fā)放給所有在奧地利擁有主要住所的公民，作為新的碳價格的補(bǔ)償措施。區(qū)域氣候紅利的數(shù)額取決于接受者的居住地。居住在農(nóng)村的公民獲得的區(qū)域氣候紅利(高達(dá)每年200英鎊)高于居住在城市地區(qū)的公民(維也納每年100英鎊)。其基本理念是，生活在城市的公民比生活在農(nóng)村的公民有更好的公共交通。如果未來碳價格上漲，區(qū)域氣候紅利將會增加。NEHG還包括對企業(yè)的補(bǔ)償措施。例如，農(nóng)林企業(yè)將根據(jù)使用類型獲得一次性補(bǔ)償，以補(bǔ)償NEHG產(chǎn)生的額外費用。受 NEHG 影響特別大且面臨碳泄漏風(fēng)險的特定經(jīng)濟(jì)行業(yè)將因碳價造成的額外負(fù)擔(dān)而部分退還。根據(jù)指令2003/87/EC第10b條，這特別包括能源密集型行業(yè)，這些行業(yè)被認(rèn)為存在碳泄漏風(fēng)險。此外，受新環(huán)境政策影響特別大的公司(如運輸行業(yè))也可以申請?zhí)純r的部分退款，以避免困難情況。

The ecological reform also includes accompanying measures in the income tax act, corporate income taxact, and electricity tax. For example, the Austrian government lowered incometax to reduce the taxation of labor substantially. Moreover, the government increased special tax incentives to compensate for the additional burden for families with children. In addition to that, the government lowered thecorporate income tax rate gradually from 25% to 23% in 2024. Starting from 2023 corporations can also deduct 5% (max 1mio €) of their investments in ecological measures from their profits as a special allowance in addition to a new investment tax credit of 10%. As a further measure, the thermal renovation of houses can be deducted partially from income tax. Furthermore, self-producedand self-consumed electricity from renewable sources (so far only for photovoltaic) will be exempt from the electricity tax without any quantitative limits. All those measures will contribute to reducing the tax ratio in Austria.

生態(tài)改革還包括所得稅、企業(yè)所得稅、電力稅等配套措施。例如，奧地利政府降低了所得稅，大幅降低了對勞動力的征稅。此外，政府還增加了特別稅收優(yōu)惠，以補(bǔ)償有子女家庭的額外負(fù)擔(dān)。此外，政府在2024年將企業(yè)所得稅稅率從25%逐步下調(diào)至23%。從2023年開始，除了10%的新投資稅收抵免外，企業(yè)還可以從利潤中扣除5%(最高100萬歐元)的生態(tài)措施投資作為特別津貼。作為進(jìn)一步的措施，房屋熱改造可以從所得稅中部分扣除。此外，來自可再生能源的自產(chǎn)自用電力(目前僅適用于光伏)將不受數(shù)量限制地免征電業(yè)稅。所有這些措施都將有助于降低奧地利的稅率。

The new role of upstream emission trading schemes

上游排放權(quán)交易機(jī)制的新作用

Prior to the Austrian NEHG, the idea foran upstream emission trading scheme was already picked up by the German government in 2019. As part of the Climate Action Programme 2030, Germany introduced its Fuel Emission Trading Act (Brennstoffemissionshandelsgesetz – BEHG) which entered into force in 2021. The Fuel Emission Trading Act served as a model for the design of the NEHG, which hasstrong similarities to the novel carbon pricing instrument in Germany. Similar to the Austrian NEHG, the German Fuel Emission Trading Act is closely tied to the taxable events of the energy tax in Germany and the carbon price is fixed in the initial phase.

在奧地利NEHG之前，德國政府早在2019年就提出了上游排放權(quán)交易機(jī)制的想法。作為2030年氣候行動計劃的一部分，德國推出了《燃料排放交易法案》，該法案于2021年生效?！度剂吓欧沤灰追ò浮肥荖EHG設(shè)計的一個典范，NEHG與德國新型碳定價工具有很強(qiáng)的相似之處。與奧地利NEHG類似，德國《燃料排放交易法》與德國能源稅的納稅事件密切相關(guān)，碳價格在初始階段是固定的。

 However, not only Austria was inspired by Germany. In July 2021 the European Commission presented its Fit for 55 package, which includes several legislative proposals in various are as to achieve the EU climate targets for 2030. One central piece of the package is the revision of the Emission Trading Directive. One of the key points of the reform is the Commission’s proposal to cover the road transport and buildings sectorsunder a separate emission trading scheme, which follows the logic of the German upstream approach.[2] According to the proposal, the expansion to buildings and road transport shall fully enter into force in 2026. The obligation to buy allowances arises at the moment when a taxable event under the energy taxes occurs. According to the proposal, the allowances will beauctioned. Therefore, there will be no fixed price phase at the beginning.However, there will be a market stability reserve to ensure stability in the price development of the allowances.

然而，不僅奧地利受到了德國的啟發(fā)。2021年7月，歐盟委員會提出了“Fit for 55一攬子行動計劃“，其中包括實現(xiàn)歐盟2030年氣候目標(biāo)的多個領(lǐng)域的立法提案。該一攬子計劃的核心內(nèi)容之一是修訂《排放交易指令》。改革的重點之一是，歐盟委員會提出，按照德國上游方式的邏輯，將道路運輸和建筑行業(yè)納入單獨的排放權(quán)交易機(jī)制，根據(jù)該提案，建筑和道路運輸行業(yè)的擴(kuò)展將于2026年全面生效。購買配額的義務(wù)在能源稅項下的應(yīng)稅事件發(fā)生時產(chǎn)生。根據(jù)提案，這些配額將被拍賣。因此，在開始階段不會有固定的價格。但是，將會有一個市場穩(wěn)定儲備，以確保配額價格發(fā)展的穩(wěn)定。

The cap reduction factor from the proposed emission trading scheme will enter into effect in 2026.[3] The maximum amount of allowances for each Member State follows the effort-sharing regulation. The effort-sharing-regulation is a legally binding instrument that sets emission reduction targets for each Member State of the EU. This will ensure an emission reduction of 43% for both sectors[4] in 2030 compared to 2005.[5] Against this background, it is unclear which (practical)implications the implementation of a separate EU ETS will have on the obligations of the member states in the effort sharing regulation. The new,separate, EU ETS will be a harmonized instrument responsible for the emissions reduction in the road transport and building sectors. Member States failing to reach their national emissions reduction targets under the Effort-Sharing Regulation could thus blame this new EU ETS directive for their failure.However, the Commission did not address this issue in its proposal for the Fit for 55 package.

擬議的排放權(quán)交易機(jī)制的上限削減因子將于2026年生效。每個會員國的最高配額遵循《減排分擔(dān)條例》?！稖p排分擔(dān)條例》是一項具有法律約束力的文書，為歐盟各成員國設(shè)定減排目標(biāo)。這將確保到2030年，兩個行業(yè)的排放量比2005年減少43%。在這種背景下，尚不清楚單獨的EU ETS的實施將對成員國在減排分擔(dān)規(guī)則中的義務(wù)產(chǎn)生何種(實際的)影響。新的、獨立的EU ETS將成為一個統(tǒng)一的工具，負(fù)責(zé)減少道路運輸和建筑行業(yè)的排放。未能達(dá)到《減排分擔(dān)條例》規(guī)定的國家減排目標(biāo)的成員國，因此可以將其失敗歸咎于EU ETS的新指令。但是，委員會在其關(guān)于”Fit for 55一攬子行動計劃“的建議中沒有處理這個問題。

Effects of the new role of upstream emission trading schemes on Austria’s reform

上游排放權(quán)交易機(jī)制對奧地利改革的新作用

Those developments at the EU level were crucial for the implementation of the NEHG. The Austrian government had also considered the implementation of a carbon tax but it would have been impractical from an Austrian point of view to introduce a carbon tax, with the knowledge that the EU is planning the expansion of the EU ETS by 2026. Indeed,it would not have been efficient to introduce a carbon tax only for the period between 2022 and 2026. It would not make much sense to have two carbon pricing instruments that cover the sectors road transport and buildings at once as it would result in a double carbon pricing situation between the national carbontax and the EU ETS.

歐盟層面的這些發(fā)展對于 NEHG 的實施至關(guān)重要。奧地利政府也曾考慮過征收碳排放稅，但從奧地利的角度來看，引入碳排放稅是不切實際的，因為他們知道歐盟計劃在2026年之前擴(kuò)大EU ETS。事實上，如果只在2022年至2026年期間征收碳排放稅，是不會有效果的。同時覆蓋道路運輸和建筑行業(yè)的兩種碳定價工具沒有多大意義，因為這將導(dǎo)致國家碳稅和EU ETS之間的雙重碳定價局面。

In short, Austria partly anticipates with the NEHG the above-mentioned EU upstream emission trading scheme for theroad transport and buildings sectors proposed by the Commission. Moreover,developments at the EU level will be taken into account in the mandatory evaluation of the NEHG by the end of 2024 (Art 19 of the NEHG). Therefore, the NEHG already contains a potential implementation mechanism for the proposedintroduction of a separate EU emission trading scheme for the sectors of roadtransport and buildings.

簡而言之，奧地利在一定程度上與NEHG一起期待歐盟委員會為道路運輸和建筑行業(yè)提出的上述歐盟上游排放權(quán)交易機(jī)制。此外，到2024年底，NEHG的強(qiáng)制性評估將考慮到歐盟層面的發(fā)展(NEHG第19條)。因此，NEHG已經(jīng)包含了一個潛在的實施機(jī)制，為道路運輸和建筑行業(yè)引入一個單獨的歐盟排放權(quán)交易機(jī)制。

Open future of carbon taxes in the EU?

歐盟碳稅的未來可觀？

The Austrian ecological tax reform is agood case study of the current developments regarding carbon pricing in the EU.The European Commission has made several attempts to introduce a common EU widecarbon tax in the EU. For example, the Commission tried to implement a partial carbon taxation (via CO2-related minimum levels of taxation) in the ETD in2011. However, the proposal failed to get the required unanimous vote of the Council of the European Union.[6]

奧地利生態(tài)稅改革是一個很好的案例研究根據(jù)碳定價在歐盟當(dāng)前發(fā)展的。歐盟委員會曾多次嘗試在歐盟引入一項歐盟范圍內(nèi)的共同碳稅。例如，歐盟委員會試圖在2011年的ETD中實施部分碳稅(通過與二氧化碳相關(guān)的最低稅收水平)。然而，該提案未能獲得歐盟理事會所需的全票通過。

After several attempts,the Commission has now changed its strategy. Instead of a carbon tax, the Commission proposes an emission trading scheme. One decisive advantage of this approach is that emission trading schemes can be decided by an ordinary legislative procedure with qualified majority.[7] By that, the implementation of an emission trading scheme would become easier from apolitical point of view as unanimity is not needed. Moreover, part of the Fit for 55 package is also the recast of the ETD, to promote green technologies and to reduce outdated exemptions (e.g aviation). However, the proposal does not contain an attempt to implement carbon taxes anymore.

經(jīng)過幾次嘗試，委員會現(xiàn)在改變了其戰(zhàn)略。歐盟委員會提出了一個排放權(quán)交易機(jī)制，而不是碳稅。這種方法的一個決定性優(yōu)勢是，排放權(quán)交易機(jī)制可以通過具有絕對多數(shù)的普通立法程序來決定。這樣一來，從政治角度來看，排放權(quán)交易機(jī)制的實施將變得更容易，因為不需要達(dá)成一致。此外，“Fit for 55一攬子行動計劃”的一部分也是對能源稅收指令（ETD）的重塑，以促進(jìn)綠色技術(shù)和減少過時的豁免(如航空)。然而，該提案不再包含實施碳稅的嘗試。

The shift in strategy shows that emission trading schemes will gain more importance in the EU’s climate policy compared to energy and carbon taxes in the future. Against this background,Germany and Austria are the first Member States that have implemented an upstream emission trading scheme in the EU. In contrast, the future of carbon taxes in the EU remains open as there are no more attempts to harmonize them at the EU level. While the ETD would still allow Member Statesto apply carbon taxes at a national level for the sectors outside the EU ETS,it remains to be seen whether Member States having a carbon tax in force at the moment will maintain their carbon taxes in the future if the proposed separate emission trading scheme is introduced at an EU level. Otherwise, those Member States would have two over lapping carbon pricing instruments on the sectors outside the current EU ETS in force. It is, therefore, possible that the implementation of a separate emission trading scheme for the sectors road transport and building leads to the slow disappearance of carbon taxes in the EU.

這一戰(zhàn)略轉(zhuǎn)變表明，與能源稅和碳稅相比，排放權(quán)交易機(jī)制將在未來的歐盟氣候政策中發(fā)揮更大的作用。在此背景下，德國和奧地利是歐盟首批實施上游排放權(quán)交易機(jī)制的成員國。相比之下，歐盟碳稅的未來仍然是開放的，因為沒有更多的嘗試在歐盟層面上協(xié)調(diào)它們。雖然 ETD 仍將允許成員國在國家層面對 EU ETS 以外的行業(yè)征收碳稅，但目前實施碳稅的成員國是否會在未來維持其碳稅仍有待觀察。提議的單獨排放權(quán)交易機(jī)制是在歐盟層面引入的，否則，這些成員國在現(xiàn)行EU ETS之外的行業(yè)將有兩個重疊的碳定價工具。因此，為道路運輸和建筑行業(yè)實施單獨的排放權(quán)交易機(jī)制，可能會導(dǎo)致歐盟碳稅的緩慢消失。

Robin Damberger: Tax Specialist at the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Austria. He was previously working as a Research Associate at the Institute for Austrian and International Tax Law at the Vienna University of Economics and Business, where he also wrote his doctoral thesis on carbon taxes.

Robin Damberger:奧地利財政部稅務(wù)專家。此前，他曾在維也納經(jīng)濟(jì)與商業(yè)大學(xué)(Vienna University of Economics and Business)奧地利和國際稅法研究所(Institute for austria and International Tax Law)擔(dān)任副研究員，并在那里撰寫了有關(guān)碳稅的博士論文。

[1] Emissions from foreign vehiclesthat fill up their tanks in Austria are included in the Austrian emissionsinventory.

[2] See Chapter IVa, COM(2021) 551final.

[3] See COM(2021) 551 final, p 20.

[4] Road transport and buildingsector.

[5] See COM(2021) 551 final, p19-20.

[6] See Art 113 Treaty on theFunctioning of the European Union.

[7] See Art 192(a) Treaty on theFunctioning of the European Union.