• What might be the environmental impacts (i.e. GHG emission reductions) of virgin material taxes on construction aggregates in the short and long term (with the use of modelling tools)?
• What might be the economic impacts, including on international competitiveness?
• Based on further analysis of the experience of other OECD countries, what considerations might need to be taken into account in instrument design? For instance, pending on information availability, this might include looking at the tax base and level, and impacts on the demand for and price of secondary aggregates.
Yes
Plastic taxes
• What might be the environmental and economic impacts of a plastic tax in the short and long term (with the use of modelling tools), including:
Impacts on overall plastics use in the economy, GHG emissions, releases of plastics into the environment.
Impacts on domestic industry, impacts on the demand for and price of recycled plastics.
• Based on further qualitative analysis, what considerations might need to be taken into account in the design of plastic taxes? For instance, this might include looking at the tax scope, the target life cycle stage, and the tax level.
No
Green Public Procurement (GPP)
• How could the impacts of GPP strategies on circularity be better captured?
• How could a competence centre support public buyers in the implementation of GPP strategies?
• Considering the current use of GPP in Italy and lessons learned in other countries, what practical guidance and tools could be most beneficial to increase dialogue with the private sector through preliminary market consultations?
• Minimum Environmental Criteria (CAM) are a useful reference tool in the implementation of the NRRP, including to show that public investments comply with the principle of “Do No Significant Harm (DNSH)” (see Chapter 2). What steps and interventions could ensure full coherence between GPP approaches and the DNSH principle, with a view to simplifying the process of fulfilling the responsibility of public administrations to respect the DNSH principle in the implementation of the NRRP?
No
Landfill and incineration taxes
Based on further analysis of the experience of other OECD countries, what considerations might need to be taken into account in the design and implementation of the instruments? For instance, pending on information availability, this might include looking at the tax base and level, possible environmental outcomes, and considerations and practical guidance on policy design and implementation.
No
Subsidies or tax relief measures (such as VAT reductions, CIT incentives)
• What is the status of VAT reductions and other fiscal incentives, with links to the circular economy, across OECD countries?
• Italy has increased the range of fiscal incentives available to firms and retailers in recent years. What has been their level of uptake, and are there lessons to be learned to overcome barriers to their use (e.g. lack of information, complexity of fiscal system)?
• What are the relevant considerations in the design, implementation and enforcement of incentive subsidies and VAT reductions? This may include looking at lessons learned from the experience of other countries, including in other sectors, (e.g. incentive subsidies for green innovation, reduced VAT rates in the construction or catering sectors). Deeper analysis may focus on:
Considerations about the effectiveness and efficiency of these instruments, including by looking at choices in instrument design (e.g. amount of tax rebate, saliency to firms and consumers).
Risks of unintended consequences, including on tax evasion, rebound income effects (i.e. consumers buy more goods with the same budget) and substitution effects (i.e. second-hand goods do not replace the acquisition of new goods)?
• What are the main advantages and drawbacks of implementing fiscal incentives and VAT reductions (versus environmental taxes) to promote behaviour aligned with higher circularity, including in terms of economic efficiency, political feasibility, saliency to firms/consumers, and environmental outcomes?
