Pricing carbon through taxation in the UK

Member price: £89 + VAT

Non-member price: £105 + VAT

Timing: 10.00am-11.00am

Overview

Governments all over the world are coming to terms with environmental taxation as a means of pricing carbon in their economies. This is basically done through a “carrot and stick” approach to tax, with tax breaks for good environmental behaviour and imposing additional tax burdens for bad behaviour. The UK has largely followed this pattern allowing for some disruption following Brexit.

This course will address the green tax issues that are in the UK and how this might change in the future.

Who should attend

This course is suitable for accountants and tax advisers who need an update on green taxation.

What you will learn

• The Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) (aka a cap-and-trade system)
  • This is a pre-Brexit scheme for the EU, which has been adopted by the UK since January 2021. It caps the total level of greenhouse gas emissions and allows those industries with low emissions to sell their extra allowances to larger emitters. By creating supply and demand for emissions allowances, an ETS establishes a market price for greenhouse gas emissions. The cap helps ensure that the required emission reductions will take place to keep the emitters (in aggregate) within their pre-allocated carbon budget.
• Current Green taxes in the UK
  • There are a number of green taxes in the UK and we will look at these on the course; in particular Climate Change Levy (CCL). Climate Change Levy (CCL) is paid by big users of electricity, gas and solid fuels, but it is possible to negotiate a Climate Change Agreement with the government, which allows for a reduced rate of CCL, in return for investment in greener equipment.
• Research and Development tax credits
  • R&D tax credits have been in the UK for some time and companies undertaking qualifying R&D will be able to gain tax credits on this. We will look at the way that this has evolved over the years, including the FA 2021 changes, which tighten the system up.
• Capital Allowances
  • Expenditure on qualifying capital expenditure will be eligible for capital allowances (CAs). We will look at the range of allowances available, in particular at the 100% First Year Allowances (FYAs), which are broadly designed for “green spend” and we will look at the way that this is changing, especially in respect of electric cars and hybrids. The results are far from intuitive.
• The new Plastics Packaging Tax from April 2022
  • In FA 2021, the Government is introducing a new Plastics Packaging Tax to tax single use plastics in the UK. We will look at the scope of this and ask how this trend is likely to develop over the next few years.

Questions?

BPP | Tel: 0330 060 3303 | Email: ldicas@bpp.com