Report

Review of the energy tax. Looking back (1996-2019) and ahead (2020-2030)

State secretary Vijlbrief has forwarded the review of the energy tax to the Lower House. The aim of this review, by CE Delft and Ecorys, is to assess the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of the fiscal design of the energy tax, evaluate the tax as a whole and its tariff structure and examine the interaction between the energy tax and the energy transition. The most important result is that without the Renewable Energy Surcharge (ODE) as an energy tax, total gas consumption in 2019 would have been about 9% (3.1-14.6%) higher and electricity consumption about 8% (3.6-12.2%) higher. This means the energy tax contributed substantially to reducing gas use and slowed down the rise in electricity use.