Establishing a comprehensive tax system in Poland in the field of clean energy subsidies is a necessary and important course of action to enhance the production and storage of energy from renewable sources, according to a CRIDO report titled “Taxation Trends”, which will be published in mid-August. In many countries, system solutions supporting clean energy have been in place since the 1990s.

Poland has not yet attempted to create a comprehensive tax system to support clean energy. In the long term, it appears to be a necessary and important direction to enhance the production and storage of energy from renewable sources,” Agnieszka Kisielewska, Director of CRIDO, said in the statement.

In her view, an important role in accelerating this transformation, and thus supporting mechanisms, can also be played by the social expectation of “access to clean air” and the generally increasing environmental awareness of both society and businesses.

“Treating the social aspect as important, if not crucial, a certain transparency of activities must also be ensured, so as to reinforce the belief that any taxes or fees related to carbon dioxide emissions are actually spent on reducing them – often the least wealthy part of society He will feel (feel the effects of the energy transformation.”

The report notes that the tax solutions that exist in Poland in the field of green energy are rather accurate (although sometimes important) and include, among others: easing thermal modernization, easing investment in agricultural taxes, exemption from the production tax for renewable energy or A higher limit than other vehicles for tax-adjusted costs of electric vehicle purchases. Innovative entrepreneurs can also apply for R&D relief or IP BOX.

CRIDO notes that taxes will become more and more important as part of climate policy and, above all, in the pursuit of climate neutrality in 2050, as well as the directions of activities set forth in the European Green Agreement.

On the one hand, they will reward sustainable investments, on the other hand, they will affect the efficiency of those that are considered non-environmental. Tax credits can also provide additional motivation to seek solutions aimed at deploying new forms of green energy.

The report lists taxes and parapay fees as well as permanent tax support mechanisms aimed at achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement, ranging from trading carbon dioxide emissions allowances, through carbon footprint taxes, to value-added tax and selective tax preferences in the field of renewable energy. relief. Among the new initiatives, there are proposals to tax airline users or introduce a so-called carbon limits adjustment mechanism, a carbon footprint tax that will be levied on imports into the European Union of goods based on the level of carbon dioxide emissions related to the production of goods

In the opinion of the authors of the report, private investments should undoubtedly also help to increase the trend towards green energy – often, for example, investment funds as well as financiing banks are interested in diversifying the investment portfolio, taking into account assets in the field of sustainable development. On the other hand, financing institutions are increasingly offering attractive financing mechanisms in the case of environmentally responsible investments (such as the so-called green bonds) or increasing the cost of financing in the case of investments in conventional energy.

In many countries, incl. Denmark, Norway and Sweden, so-called carbon taxes have been in effect since the early 1990s, and in other countries, such as Belgium, USA and Ireland, there is a potential for an increased deduction for capital expenditures or special deductions incurred in connection with investments in energy-efficient assets. On the other hand, in China, for example, it is possible to apply low CIT rates for companies operating in innovative sectors of the economy, including green energy.

According to the OECD report Taxing Energy Use, the difference in burden (for green energy) is most pronounced in the case of Iceland (where 1 GJ of clean energy is loaded on average<1 يورو ، و "قذرة"> 4.5 euro), Switzerland, Luxembourg, Slovenia and Great Britain. However, it is relatively small in the case of Poland. Most importantly, despite the pandemic, interest in investing in green energy is not declining. This is evidenced by the GREEN Act adopted in the USA, and one of its main pillars is the extension of the period of various types of tax credits, including for the production of green energy (wind or solar energy), investments in infrastructure for the production of renewable energy, energy storage or absorption of CO2 Carbon from the atmosphere, indicated in the article.

Source: ISBnews