Green and progressive tax proposals for the Netherlands

Oxfam Novib and Milieudefensie commissioned CE Delft to carry out an exploratory study into six green and progressive tax measures.

With this report, we present the potential tax revenues, climate impact, and socio-economic implications of these measures:

1. A wealth tax differentiated by CO₂ emissions.
2. A tax on excess corporate profits, differentiated by CO₂ emissions.
3. The gradual phase-out of fossil fuel subsidies in Dutch industry.
4. A fuel tax for the maritime sector.
5. A frequent flyer tax.
6. A heavy vehicle tax.

For the wealth tax and the excess profit tax, we go beyond impact analysis and also propose concrete designs for how these taxes could be implemented.

These taxes are intended to serve multiple policy objectives: pricing environmental damage (via a CO₂ component), addressing market power (excessive or abnormal profits), greening capital (through the wealth tax), and promoting redistribution and fairness (through progressive elements across all measures).

According to our calculations, the proposed tax package would generate approximately € 84 billion annually and result in a yearly reduction of at least 8.3 megatonnes of greenhouse gas emissions-equivalent to 5.7% of the Netherlands’ total annual emissions.