zlacker

In order to be politically acceptable, a carbon tax should be phased in gradually and coupled with a reduction in income tax so as to make it revenue neutral. That way it can't be framed as just another government tax grab.

>>nradov+(OP)
Offsetting income tax would be a massive handout to the rich, who have been and continue to be the greatest contributors to carbon emissions.

Instead, it should be paired with a dividend which makes it revenue neutral for the median household. Lower income families, who are more impacted by but less responsible for climate change, would be paid a benefit.

>>dublin+43
There is progressive taxation, so you can control who is getting offsets and who is not.

>>nradov+(OP)
This is already the case in Canada's carbon tax. The amount of tax you pay is proportional to the amount of fossil fuels you consume. But the amount of refund you receive is equal to the total tax collected divided by the population; you receive the same refund regardless of how much you consume. It is a revenue-neutral scheme.

>>dublin+43
Canada’s rebate was per-capita. Most people received more in their rebate than they paid in increased fuel cost.

>>nradov+(OP)
The plan for Germany was to give out climate money to everyone. E.g. all additional funds acquired through increased carbon taxes where supposed to be equally returned to the population on a per head basis. Turns out even Germany does not have a Government process for that. And parts of the current coalition, which happen to be tasked with creating that process, are more interested in stalling implementation as long as possible.

>>dublin+43
> Offsetting income tax would be a massive handout to the rich, who have been and continue to be the greatest contributors to carbon emissions.

I'm not sure how these two ideas make sense in your head. If you implement a carbon tax and the rich are the greatest contributors as you stated, one would expect them to be hit by the carbon tax as well.

In any case, I personally see an income tax as a strange thing to have in the context of a discussion wherein taxing undesirable behavior is seen as a way of disincentivizing it.

At the very minimum free the working class and lower-middle class from income tax.

>>dublin+43
In the U.S. capital gains and dividends are taxed at a low rate to benefit the rich, and "Income tax" is a working-class thing. Maybe the OP was referring to the U.S. concept of income tax.