Energy taxes : energy costs, taxes and the impact of government interventions on investments : final report.
Date: 2020-10-23
Institutions: Directorate-General for Energy
Subjects: EU Member State, United Kingdom, cost analysis, economic consequence, economic support, electrical energy, energy grid, energy production, energy technology, environmental tax, heating, intervention policy, price of energy, renewable energy, report, tax

Final Report 

Energy Taxes 

Energy costs, taxes and the impact of government 
interventions on investments 

Written by Trinomics 
October - 2020 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Directorate-General for Energy 
Directorate A — Energy Policy 
Unit A4 — Economic Analysis and Financial Instruments  

European Commission 
B-1049 Brussels 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Final Report 

Energy Taxes 

Energy costs, taxes and the impact of government 
interventions on investments 

In association with: 

And involving: 

Directorate-General for Environment 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Final Report – Energy Taxes: Energy costs, taxes and the impact of government interventions on investments 

CONTRACT DETAILS 

European Commission, DG ENERGY UNIT A.4 

Study on energy costs, taxes and the impact of government interventions on investments in the energy sector 

Service request ENER/2018-A4/2018-471 

PRESENTED BY 

Consortium led by: 

Trinomics B.V. 

Westersingel 34 

3014 GS Rotterdam 

The Netherlands 

CONTACT 

Koen Rademaekers 

Koen.rademaekers@trinomics.eu 

Tel: +31 10 341 45 92 

DATE 

Rotterdam, 12th October 2020 

AUTHORS 

Peter Lemoine, Thierry Badouard (Enerdata) 

Matthias Altmann (LBST) 

LEGAL NOTICE 

This document has been prepared for the European Commission however it reflects the views only of the 
authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information 
contained therein. 

More information on the European Union is available on the Internet (http://www.europa.eu). 

Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2020 

PDF/Volume_01 

ISBN 978-92-76-23129-5 

doi: 10.2833/36298 

MJ-03-20-635-EN-N 

© European Union, 2020  

The Commission’s reuse policy is implemented by Commission Decision 2011/833/EU of 12 December 2011 on 
the reuse of Commission documents (OJ L 330, 14.12.2011, p. 39 – https://eur-
lex.europa.eu/eli/dec/2011/833/oj).  

Unless otherwise noted, the reuse of this document is authorised under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 
International (CC BY 4.0) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). This means that reuse is 
allowed, provided appropriate credit is given and any changes are indicated.  

TEC1204EU 

 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
Final Report – Energy Taxes: Energy costs, taxes and the impact of government interventions on investments 

CONTENTS 

List of acronyms and country ISO codes .......................................................... 7 

Acronyms .................................................................................................. 7 

Country ISO codes ........................................................................................ 8 

1  Taxes, levies and other fiscal measures (T7) ................................................ 9 

1.1 

Key takeaways .................................................................................. 10 

1.2 

Taxes on energy consumption in the EU27 ............................................... 11 
1.2.1  Summary of approach .................................................................................. 11 
1.2.2  Data collection .......................................................................................... 11 
1.2.3  Revised approach to estimating tax revenues ...................................................... 13 
1.2.4  Analysis .................................................................................................. 19 

1.3 

1.4 

Taxes on energy production and infrastructure in the EU27 .......................... 35 

Taxes on energy consumption in G20 countries ......................................... 36 

2  Conclusion .........................................................................................43 

TEC1204EU 

 
Final Report – Energy Taxes: Energy costs, taxes and the impact of government interventions on investments 

List of acronyms and country ISO codes 

Acronyms 

CIRCABC 

Communication and Information Resource Centre for Administrations, Businesses and Citizens 

(European Commission) 

DG TAXUD 

Directorate-General for Taxation and Customs Union (European Commission) 

EC 

EE 

EII 

ETD 

EU 

European Commission 

Energy efficiency 

Energy intensive industry 

Energy Taxation Directive of the European Commission 

European Union 

EU ETS 

European Union Emissions Trading Scheme  

EU27 

The group of 27 countries comprising the EU, including: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, 

Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, 

Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, 

Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden. 

EUR 

Euro (€) 

Eurostat 

The statistical office of the European Union 

FF 

Fossil fuels 

The G20 (or Group of Twenty) is an international forum for the governments and central bank 

governors from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, 

Italy, Japan, Mexico,  Republic of Korea, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United 

Kingdom, the United States and the EU. 

Gross domestic product 

One thousand tonnes of oil equivalent 

Member State 

Megawatt-hour 

Database on energy efficiency indicators and energy consumption by end-use and their 

underlying drivers in industry, transport and buildings 

Recyclable 

Renewable energy sources 

Value added tax 

G20 

GDP 

ktoe 

MS 

MWh 

Odyssee 

RE 

RES 

VAT 

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Final Report – Energy Taxes: Energy costs, taxes and the impact of government interventions on investments 

Country ISO codes 

 EU27 

BE 

Belgium 

BG 

Bulgaria 

CZ 

DK 

DE 

EE 

IE 

EL 

ES 

FR 

HR 

IT 

CY 

LV 

LT 

LU 

HU 

MT 

NL 

AT 

PL 

PT 

Czechia 

Denmark 

Germany  

Estonia 

Ireland 

Greece 

Spain 

France 

Croatia 

Italy 

Cyprus 

Latvia 

Lithuania 

Luxembourg 

Hungary 

Malta 

Netherlands 

Austria 

Poland 

Portugal 

RO 

Romania 

SI 

SK 

FI 

SE 

AR 

AU 

CA 

ID 

IN 

JP 

KR 

TR 

Slovenia 

Slovakia 

Finland 

Sweden 

G20 

Argentina 

Australia 

Canada 

Indonesia 

India 

Japan 

South Korea 

Turkey 

UK 

United Kingdom 

US 

ZA 

United States 

South Africa 

8 

Final Report – Energy Taxes: Energy costs, taxes and the impact of government interventions on investments 

1  Taxes, levies and other fiscal measures (T7)  

The aim of this task was to develop a detailed inventory and analysis of energy-related taxes, levies and 

other fiscal measures in European Union (‘EU’) Member States (‘MS’) and G20 countries. Tax data was 

collected from national sources (e.g., finance and energy ministries) and assembled into a database. 

Tax rates and revenues were analysed and benchmarked by sector and by product (fuel) across 

countries. 

This report focuses on taxes on energy consumption in the EU27. Including: 

 

Excise taxes on fuels; 

  Non-tax levies on fuel purchases, such as on natural gas and electricity bills, used to finance 

renewable energy (e.g., the Renewable Energy Sources Act (‘EEG’) in Germany), or energy 

efficiency (e.g., Italy’s White Certificate scheme); 

 

All other taxes, levies and fiscal measures that end consumers pay when they consume energy. 

Taxes on energy production and infrastructure in the EU27 and the United Kingdom1 are also covered, 

although in less detail than taxes on energy consumption. Finally, taxes on energy in 11 G20 countries 

are reported and compared to tax rates and levels in the EU27.  

Environmental charges such as carbon taxes (the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (‘ETS’)) are not 

considered taxes and are therefore covered under external costs. Value added taxes (‘VAT’) are not 

covered in this report2. 

Specific taxes included in the analysis are listed in the Annex. 

In addition to this report, the main task output is an Excel tool presenting energy-related tax data, 

enabling visualisation per country, sector and fuel. 

1 The UK in considered a non-EU G20 country in this analysis. 
2 TAXUD provided the core team with VAT rates for EU MS, but they were not aware of any data or studies that show 
VAT taxes by sector or product. Our data collection generally showed that neither EU MS nor G20 countries are 
reporting VAT by sector or product. Estimating VAT taxes was also problematic. Our approach was to apply VAT rates 
from Eurostat to energy prices (from Enerdata) and then to energy volumes (from Eurostat) to estimate VAT 
revenues. But in the case of France, for example, we could not even determine which sectors are paying VAT 
because there is a non-transparent array of tax deductions and exemptions in place. For Italy, we found data on VAT 
on electricity use but no breakdown by sector is available and our attempt to recompose the total amount of VAT on 
electricity was not successful. We had a similar challenge with UK VAT data. Related challenges exist for most other 
countries. Therefore, we were unable to generate VAT tax revenue estimates for this report. 

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Final Report – Energy Taxes: Energy costs, taxes and the impact of government interventions on investments 

1.1  Key takeaways 

All taxes analysed 

  Revenues from taxes on energy consumption in the EU27 totalled EUR 263 billion in 2018, 

more than the GDP of Finland, while taxes on energy production equalled 2% of taxes on 

consumption. Taxes on infrastructure also equalled 2% of taxes on consumption.  

Figure 1-1 Total revenues from taxes on energy use, production and infrastructure in the EU27 in 2018 

€ bn

200

100

0

Taxes on energy
use

GDP of Finland Production taxes

Taxes on
infrastructure

Reported tax rates on energy consumption in the EU27 

  Tax rates on energy use increased by 29% between 2008 and 2018, in real terms. The total 

reported tax rate on energy consumption in the EU27 was EUR 25/MWh in 20183. Member states 

total tax rates ranged from EUR 9/MWh (Hungary) to EUR 34/MWh in 2018 (Germany), with a 

median of EUR 19/MWh; 

  There is now more differential tax treatment by sector than there was in 2008. Rates 

increased the most, in absolute terms, in the non-energy-intensive industry (‘non-EII’), services 

and construction sectors, while rate changes in the passenger road and water transport sectors 

were small; 

  Tax rates on EIIs are three times less than on non-EIIs. And the median tax rate on EIIs is half 

that of non-EIIs; 

  Tax rates on liquid fuels used for road transport are the highest and rates on petroleum 

coke and coal are the lowest. The median tax rate levied by EU MS on gasoline is EUR 60/MWh 

and EUR 37/MWh on diesel, while the median tax rate on solid fossil fuels (i.e. coal) is EUR 

1/MWh, EUR 2/MWh on natural gas, and EUR 4/MWh on electricity. 

Estimated tax revenues from taxes on energy consumption in the EU27 

  Total revenues from taxes on energy consumption increased 23% between 2008 and 2018 

(from EUR 219 billion in 2008 to EUR 263 billion in 2018). 47% of the revenue in 2018 was 

accounted for by Germany and France, and another 28% by Italy, Spain and the Netherlands. 

Road transport accounts for 60% of tax revenue, followed by residential (15%), then services 

(12%); 

3 Calculated as the sum of consumption tax revenues across the EU27 divided by the sum of energy volumes taxed 
across the EU27. 

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Final Report – Energy Taxes: Energy costs, taxes and the impact of government interventions on investments 

  Three-quarters of revenues in the EU27 were from excise taxes in 2018, and 20% were for 

renewables support. Additional support for renewables accounted for EUR 40 billion, or 80% of 

the EUR 50 billion in additional revenue in 2018 relative to 2008; 

 

Energy intensive industries and agriculture paid the least taxes relative to the amount of 

energy they consumed in 2018, whereas the road transport sectors paid the most. EIIs 

account for 18% of energy consumption and 2% of tax revenue, and agriculture accounts for 3% 

of energy use and 0.5% of tax revenue while road transport accounts for 29% of energy 

consumption and 60% of tax revenue; 

  Revenues from taxes on electricity rose while those on gasoline fell. Taxes on diesel account 

for the largest share of tax revenues in 2018 (41%), as they did in 2008. Electricity accounted 

for 30% of tax revenues in 2018, up 15 percentage points from 2008, while the gasoline share 

decreased from 30% to 20%, corresponding to a drop of a fifth in gasoline consumption between 

2008 and 2018.  

Taxes on energy production and infrastructure in the EU27 

  Revenues from taxes on energy production fell from EUR 21 billion in 2008 to EUR 5 billion 

in 2018, while taxes on infrastructure doubled to EUR 5 billion.  

Taxes on energy consumption in G20 countries 

  Total tax rates on passenger road transport within 11 G20 countries (including the United 

Kingdom, but excluding Germany, France and Italy) are, on average, half that in the EU27. 

The US tax rate is 40% that of the lowest EU MS tax rate (Bulgaria) and a quarter of the total 

EU27 rate. The rate in Japan is 20% lower than the EU27 total and equivalent to the rates in 

Austria, Romania, and Latvia; 

  Tax rates on energy-intensive industries in Japan are twice that of the EU27 (EUR 12/MWh 

versus EUR 6/MWh), but tax rates on non-energy-intensive industries are a third lower (EUR 

12/MWh versus EUR 18/MWh). 

1.2  Taxes on energy consumption in the EU27 

1.2.1  Summary of approach 

This task included three steps: data collection, data analysis and reporting.  

The approach to data collection was to develop a detailed data collection template, pre-populate it for 

each EU and G20 country with data from transversal sources, including Enerdata Global Energy and CO2 

Data and Enerdata EnerDemand online databases, Eurostat, etc., send the templates to country experts 

for updating with data from national sources, and conduct data quality control. 

The analysis presented below includes discussion of tax rates and tax revenues by sector and by fuel for 

the EU27. 

1.2.2  Data collection  

Data disposition 

27 out of 27 EU MS country templates covering taxes were returned by country experts to the core 

team, plus the UK. All templates were reviewed by the core team and sent back to country experts for 

revision.  

11 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Final Report – Energy Taxes: Energy costs, taxes and the impact of government interventions on investments 

Data quality  

Below, we summarise key issues encountered and lessons learned during quality control of energy tax 

data provided by country experts:  

1.  Variance in national reporting: There is little consistency between EU MS in how energy tax 

data are reported at country level. Data are dispersed across many administrations and it is 

notable that historical data series exist only in rare cases. This was known, to some degree, 

before the project started. However, the extent of the variation is far greater than 

anticipated. There is considerable variation in what is collected by countries, who is collecting 

it, and what is reported. This remark corroborates findings by DG TAXUD in its report of 12 

September 20194. We carefully developed the data collection template in anticipation of this 

issue, and provided specific instructions to country experts, yet still it was challenging for 

experts to report their data in a harmonised format. Our solution to this problem was to 

combine data from transversal sources with national data (primarily tax rates), to harmonise 

the data. We detail this solution in the next section of this chapter; 

2.  Lack of detail: Most countries do not collect energy tax data at the level of detail required for 

the project. The project requires tax data disaggregated by fuel, and by use (‘use’ implies 

knowing the type of consumer consuming the fuel, from which we can deduce the applicable 

economic sector). Some countries may collect data at this level but if so, they are reporting it 

in aggregate. There are notable exceptions, such as Germany and Finland, where detailed data 

is available. But for many country experts it was impossible to even estimate tax revenues at 

this level of detail using national sources; 

3.  Lack of data on energy tax revenues: Most country experts were able to collect data on 

energy tax liquidation rates, but corresponding tax revenues were not published, or not readily 

available; 

4.  Variation in transparency: Some countries collect and report – in readily available format – 

energy tax data in great detail. Germany, Spain and Slovenia, for example. This level of 

transparency is exemplary but exceptional. By and large, data transparency is poor. The only 

downside to complete transparency is overwhelming volume. For countries like Germany, it 

can be challenging for country experts to sift through the data available for what is required 

for the project; 

5.  Bureaucratic complexity: The data required for the project is often dispersed across many 

national sources and is poorly structured. Tax rates may be published by several public bodies 

(depending on who has oversight), including ministries of finance, customs, or energy, or by 

energy regulators, whereas energy balance data is housed within energy ministries and 

statistical offices or energy agencies. This made it challenging for country experts to conduct 

secondary research and increased the amount of time required for correspondence with the 

various ministries. The greater, long-term issue is that this bureaucratic complexity will make 

it difficult for MS to prioritise and implement hamonised reporting on energy taxes. 

To summarise, collecting energy tax data was far more challenging than anticipated, and the project 

team needed to develop alternative methods for estimating data – particularly tax revenues – for many 

countries. This method is discussed below. 

4 “Due to the wide ranging flexibility left to Member States to apply exemptions, reductions and refunds it is vastly 
complicated to calculate effective rates in a harmonised way across the EU. In addition, at the time of the 
evaluation no official data collection existed that was equipped to capture effective tax rates.” DG TAXUD, 
Commission report: evaluation of the Energy Taxation Directive, 12 September 2019, available at 
https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/news/commission-report-evaluation-energy-taxation-directive%C2%A0_en  

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Final Report – Energy Taxes: Energy costs, taxes and the impact of government interventions on investments 

1.2.3  Revised approach to estimating tax revenues 

To address the challenges encountered in collecting energy consumption-related tax data we developed 

a revised methodology pairing transversal sources with national data collected by country experts. The 

main goal was to estimate tax revenues and corresponding energy volumes at the level of detail 

required for the project.  

Our approach applied Eurostat data on energy balances, complemented by Odyssee5 database data on 

demand to refine energy consumption data in the project database. This data on energy volumes was 

applied to the tax rates collected by country experts to estimate tax revenues. 

The approach had four steps: 

1. 

Identifying relevant sectors and energy products in Eurostat (top down data); 

2.  Mapping tax rates from national sources/country experts to the sectors-products selected in 

step one; 

3.  Converting energy volumes from Eurostat, which are in ktoe, to the tax rate units provided by 

country experts; 

4.  Estimating tax revenues. 

Step 1: Identifying relevant sectors and energy products 

The first step was to identify relevant sectors in Eurostat. Final energy consumption data for 2008-2018 

was pulled from Eurostat6 for each EU MS by economic sector by energy product. Industrial sector data 

was aggregated into Energy-intensive industry (‘EII’), non-energy-intensive industry (‘non-EII’), mining, 

and construction (Figure 1-2) – these categories align with categories at which energy taxes on industry 

are typically applied by EU MS. Eurostat does not identify which industries are EIIs, and which are not. 

It was therefore necessary for us to do so, otherwise we could not distinguish between taxes on EIIs and 

non-EIIs in the project database. The EII classification shown below is consistent with the classification 

used in the previous energy prices and cost study. 

5 https://www.odyssee-mure.eu/  
6 https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/data/database  

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Final Report – Energy Taxes: Energy costs, taxes and the impact of government interventions on investments 

Figure 1-2 Energy using sectors from Eurostat (left column) and the sector assignment for project database  
(right column) 

NRG_BAL_LABEL
Final consumption - industry sector - iron and steel - energy use
Final consumption - industry sector - chemical and petrochemical - energy use
Final consumption - industry sector - non-ferrous metals - energy use
Final consumption - industry sector - non-metallic minerals - energy use
Final consumption - industry sector - transport equipment - energy use
Final consumption - industry sector - machinery - energy use
Final consumption - industry sector - mining and quarrying - energy use
Final consumption - industry sector - food, beverages and tobacco - energy use
Final consumption - industry sector - paper, pulp and printing - energy use
Final consumption - industry sector - wood and wood products - energy use
Final consumption - industry sector - construction - energy use
Final consumption - industry sector - textile and leather - energy use
Final consumption - industry sector - not elsewhere specified - energy use
Final consumption - transport sector - rail - energy use

Final consumption - transport sector - road - energy use

Sector short label
Indu-EII
Indu-EII
Indu-EII
Indu-EII
Indu-non-EII
Indu-non-EII
Indu-Mining
Indu-non-EII
Indu-EII
Indu-EII
Construction
Indu-EII
Indu-non-EII
Trans-rail
Trans-road-passenger
Trans-road-freight
Trans-air
Trans-water

Final consumption - transport sector - domestic aviation - energy use
Final consumption - transport sector - domestic navigation - energy use
Final consumption - other sectors - commercial and public services - energy use Services
Final consumption - other sectors - households - energy use
Final consumption - other sectors - agriculture and forestry - energy use
Final consumption - other sectors - fishing - energy use

Residential
Agriculture
Fishing

We then sorted energy product data from Eurostat by volume by sector for the EU27 in total to identify 

those products with the highest consumption in each sector. These were kept for the database and are 

as shown in Figure 1-3 in the second column from the left. 

Inapplicability of ETD classification 

As the Commission is aware, DG TAXUD, through the CIRCABC7 platform, biannually publishes excise 

duty rate data for fossil fuels and electricity by energy use based on the framework of the Energy 

Taxation Directive 20038 (ETD 2003). At the start of the project, we developed taxation mapping based 

on CIRCABC information (i.e. on ETD framework) and Eurostat energy consumption data with two goals 

in mind: (1) to provide pre-populated templates to country experts, and (2) to map potentially 

unreported tax expenditures by MS. However, quality control of data returned by our country experts 

showed the use of the current ETD framework is too restrictive for the project for the following 

reasons: 

 

The current ETD framework allows MS to grant sector-specific energy tax exemptions or 

reductions, notably in the aviation, maritime and road freight, residential (for heating) and 

agricultural/fisheries sectors. For EIIs exemptions and reductions are not reported by sector in 

CIRCABC documents. For example, there are some cases where tax rates for a sector-product 

are published by MS but no tax is collected on energy consumed – we call such tax rates 

‘apparent’. We therefore recommend going beyond the current CIRCABC provisions and 

reporting tax rates for these industries; 

 

The ETD defines specific sectors such as ‘energy-intensive business’9 (EIIs) but this 

classification is not used for other statistical purposes such as calculating energy tax revenues 

7 https://circabc.europa.eu/faces/jsp/extension/wai/navigation/container.jsp  
8 https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/business/excise-duties-alcohol-tobacco-energy/excise-duties-energy_en  
9 “An ‘energy-intensive business’ shall mean a business entity, as referred to in Article 11, where either the 
  purchases of energy products and electricity amount to at least 3,0 % of the production value or the national 

14 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Final Report – Energy Taxes: Energy costs, taxes and the impact of government interventions on investments 

and consumption from EIIs. As a result, the data required to quantify the effective taxation 

rate - tax revenue and tax expenditures – for these businesses does not exist because such 

dedicated reporting has not been implemented (as far as we know) in the EU. We discuss 

below how we estimated this data; 

The documents available on the CIRCABC platform do not include taxation data on biofuels, 

biogases or hydrogen; 

The transposition of the ETD into national laws by MS has led to heterogeneous reporting. Tax 

rates are often reported in legal documents that are difficult to read and interpret, especially 

when changes occur across years. Comparison between countries and even directly with the 

ETD is therefore challenging.   

 

 

Thus, the current classification under the ETD was inappropriate for application to this study. 

Figure 1-2 also shows how the tax bases we identified in Eurostat match with harmonised tax bases 

currently in effect under the ETD. One conclusion of this mapping is that taxation of liquid biofuels is 

not covered by CIRCABC, although countries do consume liquid biofuels and many of them have 

implemented biofuels mandates10. The case is similar for the services and residential sectors for peat, 

solid biomass, biogases, as well as for electricity in the road transport sector.  

  energy tax payable amounts to at least 0,5 % of the added value.” Article 17, Energy Taxation Directive 
  (2003/96/EC), available at https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex%3A32003L0096  
10 http://www.res-legal.eu/  

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Final Report – Energy Taxes: Energy costs, taxes and the impact of government interventions on investments 

Figure 1-3 Eurostat energy consumption data matched with current ETD harmonised tax bases 

Sector

Agriculture and 
forestry

Fishing

Commercial and 
public services

Households

Eurostat

Energy product/carrier
Solid fossil fuels
Electricity
Natural gas
Liquefied petroleum gases
Motor gasoline (excluding biofuel portion)
Kerosene type jet fuel (excluding biofuel portion)
Gas oil and diesel oil (excluding biofuel portion)
Fuel oil
Peat and peat products
Primary solid biofuels
Blended biogasoline
Pure biogasoline
Blended biodiesels
Pure biodiesels
Other liquid biofuels
Biogases

Electricity
Natural gas
Liquefied petroleum gases
Motor gasoline (excluding biofuel portion)
Gas oil and diesel oil (excluding biofuel portion)
Fuel oil
Blended biogasoline
Pure biogasoline
Blended biodiesels
Pure biodiesels

Solid fossil fuels
Electricity
Natural gas
Liquefied petroleum gases
Motor gasoline (excluding biofuel portion)
Other kerosene
Gas oil and diesel oil (excluding biofuel portion)
Fuel oil
Peat and peat products
Primary solid biofuels
Blended biogasoline
Pure biogasoline
Blended biodiesels
Pure biodiesels
Other liquid biofuels
Biogases
Non renewable waste
Renewable municipal waste

Solid fossil fuels
Electricity
Natural gas
Liquefied petroleum gases
Motor gasoline (excluding biofuel portion)
Other kerosene
Gas oil and diesel oil (excluding biofuel portion)
Fuel oil
Petroleum coke
Peat and peat products
Primary solid biofuels
Charcoal
Blended biogasoline
Pure biogasoline
Blended biodiesels
Pure biodiesels
Other liquid biofuels
Biogases

Energy product
Coal & coke
Electricity
Natural gas
LPG
Gasoline
Kerosene
Gasoil
Heavy fuel oil

ETD/CIRCABC

EDT classes
Agriculture, horticulture, pisciculture, forestry
Agriculture, horticulture, pisciculture, forestry
Agriculture, horticulture, pisciculture, forestry
Agriculture, horticulture, pisciculture, forestry
Unleaded Petrol
Agriculture, horticulture, pisciculture, forestry
Agriculture, horticulture, pisciculture, forestry
Agriculture, horticulture, pisciculture, forestry

Electricity
Natural gas
LPG
Gasoline
Gasoil
Heavy fuel oil

Agriculture, horticulture, pisciculture, forestry
Agriculture, horticulture, pisciculture, forestry
Agriculture, horticulture, pisciculture, forestry
Unleaded Petrol
Agriculture, horticulture, pisciculture, forestry
Agriculture, horticulture, pisciculture, forestry

Coal & coke
Electricity
Natural gas
LPG
Gasoline
Kerosene
Gasoil
Heavy fuel oil

Heating – Business use 
Business use 
Heating – Business use 
Heating – Business use 
Unleaded Petrol
Heating – Business use
Heating – Business use 
Heating – Business use 

Coal & coke
Electricity
Natural gas
LPG
Gasoline
Kerosene
Gasoil
Heavy fuel oil
Coal & coke

Heating – Non business use
Non-business use
Heating – Non business use
Heating – Non business use
Unleaded Petrol
Heating – Non business use
Heating – Non business use
Heating – Non business use
Heating – Non business use

16 

 
Final Report – Energy Taxes: Energy costs, taxes and the impact of government interventions on investments 

Eurostat

ETD/CIRCABC

Sector

Transport sector - 
road - personal

Energy product/carrier
Electricity
Natural gas
Liquefied petroleum gases
Motor gasoline (excluding biofuel portion)
Other kerosene
Gas oil and diesel oil (excluding biofuel portion)
W hite spirit and special boiling point industrial spirits
Blended biogasoline
Pure biogasoline
Blended biodiesels
Pure biodiesels
Other liquid biofuels
Biogases

Energy product

EDT classes

Natural gas
LPG
Gasoline
Kerosene
Gasoil

Propellant
Propellant
Unleaded Petrol/Leaded petrol
Propellant
Propellant

Transport sector - 
road - freight

Electricity
Natural gas
Liquefied petroleum gases
Motor gasoline (excluding biofuel portion)
Other kerosene
Gas oil and diesel oil (excluding biofuel portion)
W hite spirit and special boiling point industrial spirits
Blended biogasoline
Pure biogasoline
Blended biodiesels
Pure biodiesels
Other liquid biofuels
Biogases

Transport sector - 
rail

Solid fossil fuels
Electricity
Gas oil and diesel oil (excluding biofuel portion)
Blended biodiesels
Pure biodiesels

Transport sector - 
domestic 
navigation

Motor gasoline (excluding biofuel portion)
Other kerosene
Gas oil and diesel oil (excluding biofuel portion)
Fuel oil
Blended biogasoline
Blended biodiesels

Natural gas
LPG
Gasoline
Kerosene
Gasoil

Propellant
Propellant
Unleaded Petrol/Leaded petrol
Propellant
Commercial gasoil used as propellant

Coal & coke
Electricity
Gasoil

Railways
Railways
Railways

Gasoline
Kerosene
Gasoil
Heavy fuel oil

Unleaded Petrol/Leaded petrol
Propellant
Propellant
Propellant

Transport sector - 
domestic aviation

Aviation gasoline
Motor gasoline (excluding biofuel portion)
Kerosene type jet fuel (excluding biofuel portion)

Gasoline
Kerosene

Unleaded Petrol/Leaded petrol
Propellant

17 

 
 
Final Report – Energy Taxes: Energy costs, taxes and the impact of government interventions on investments 

Sector

Energy Intensive 
Industries (EII)*

Non-energy 
Intensive 
Industries (non-
EII)*

Industry sector - 
mining and 
quarrying

Industry sector - 
construction 

Eurostat

Energy product/carrier
Solid fossil fuels
Manufactured gases
Electricity
Natural gas
Liquefied petroleum gases
Motor gasoline (excluding biofuel portion)
Gas oil and diesel oil (excluding biofuel portion)
Fuel oil
Petroleum coke
Peat and peat products
Primary solid biofuels
Other liquid biofuels
Biogases
Non renew able w aste

Solid fossil fuels
Electricity
Natural gas
Liquefied petroleum gases
Other kerosene
Gas oil and diesel oil (excluding biofuel portion)
Fuel oil
Petroleum coke
Primary solid biofuels
Other liquid biofuels
Biogases
Non renew able w aste

Solid fossil fuels
Manufactured gases
Electricity
Natural gas
Liquefied petroleum gases
Other kerosene
Gas oil and diesel oil (excluding biofuel portion)
Fuel oil
Petroleum coke
Primary solid biofuels
Blended biodiesels
Renew able municipal w aste

Solid fossil fuels
Electricity
Natural gas
Liquefied petroleum gases
Motor gasoline (excluding biofuel portion)
Gas oil and diesel oil (excluding biofuel portion)
Fuel oil
Primary solid biofuels
Blended biodiesels
Biogases
Non renew able w aste

Energy product
Coal & coke

Electricity
Natural gas
LPG
Gasoline
Gasoil
Heavy fuel oil
Coal & coke

ETD/CIRCABC

EDT classes
Heating – Business use 

Business use 
Industrial/Commercial use
Industrial/Commercial use
Unleaded Petrol
Industrial/Commercial use
Heating – Business use 
Heating – Business use 

Coal & coke
Electricity
Natural gas
LPG
Kerosene
Gasoil
Heavy fuel oil
Coal & coke

Heating – Business use 
Business use 
Industrial/Commercial use
Industrial/Commercial use
Industrial/Commercial use
Industrial/Commercial use
Heating – Business use 
Heating – Business use 

Coal & coke

Heating – Business use 

Electricity
Natural gas
LPG
Kerosene
Gasoil
Heavy fuel oil
Coal & coke

Coal & coke
Electricity
Natural gas
LPG
Gasoline
Gasoil
Heavy fuel oil

Business use 
Industrial/Commercial use
Industrial/Commercial use
Industrial/Commercial use
Industrial/Commercial use
Heating – Business use 
Heating – Business use 

Heating – Business use 
Business use 
Industrial/Commercial use
Industrial/Commercial use
Unleaded Petrol
Industrial/Commercial use
Heating – Business use 

Step 2: Mapping tax rates 

Tax rates, along with the tax rate units (litre, ton, etc.) from national sources, as reported by country 

experts, were matched with the appropriate sector-product pairs for each tax reported by country 

experts. Tax exemptions and reductions were also accounted for in this step. 

Step 3: Energy volume conversion 

Eurostat reports energy volumes in ktoe, but tax rates were reported by country experts in various 

liquidation units. Therefore, energy volumes needed to be converted to appropriate liquidation units 

for each tax. We performed these conversions using energy content data from Eurostat11. The energy 

content of solid fuels considerably varies (across lignite coal, anthracite coal, etc.) but many tax rates 

are applied to solid fuels generally; therefore, we calculated a weighted average solid fuel conversion 

rate for each using Eurostat conversion rates. 

11 https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/38154/4956218/ENERGY-BALANCE-GUIDE-DRAFT-
31JANUARY2019.pdf/cf121393-919f-4b84-9059-cdf0f69ec045; 
http://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/submitViewTableAction.do 

18 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Final Report – Energy Taxes: Energy costs, taxes and the impact of government interventions on investments 

Step 4: Tax revenue estimation 

Tax revenues were then estimated as the product of converted energy volumes and tax rates. We 

checked our estimates against Eurostat data on revenues for each tax to ensure our estimates are 

reasonably consistent (although Eurostat’s reporting is largely limited to taxes on fossil fuels). Where 

possible we documented differences between our estimates and Eurostat’s reported data.  

1.2.4  Analysis 

Taxes on energy consumption analysed in this section include: 

 

Excise taxes on fuels; 

  Non-tax levies on fuel purchases, such as on natural gas and electricity bills, used to finance 

renewable energy (e.g., the Renewable Energy Sources Act (‘EEG’) in Germany), or energy 

efficiency (e.g., Italy’s White Certificate scheme); 

 

All other taxes, levies and fiscal measures that end consumers pay when they consume energy. 

Specific taxes included in this analysis are listed by EU MS in the Annex. 

Summary 

The total reported tax rate12 on energy consumption in the EU27 was EUR 25/MWh in 2018 (Figure 1-4), 

a 29% increase over the 2008 tax rate (EUR 19/MWh) in real terms, while tax revenues per capita 

increased 19% from EUR 486/capita in 2008 to EUR 590/capita in 2018, tax revenues as a share of GDP 

dropped slightly from 2.1% to 1.9%, and excise tax revenues as share of total government revenue 

increased from 6% to 7%. 

Figure 1-4 Summary statistics, taxes on energy consumption in the EU27 in 2018 (N=27 Member States) 

Metric

EU27 total reported tax rate, EUR/MWh
EU27 total effective tax rate, EUR/MWh
EU27 total tax revenues, EUR/capita
EU27 total tax revenues, % of GDP
EU27 excise tax revenues, % of total government revenue

EU27 Total
24.9
18.4
590
1.9%
6.8%

Minimum
9.2
7.6
149
0.8%
2.0%

25th 
Percentile
13.6
11.8
291
1.7%
4.7%

Median
18.8
15.9
477
1.9%
6.4%

75th 
Percentile
24.9
20.0
694
2.2%
7.5%

Maximum
34.4
27.7
1480
2.8%
14.1%

Reported tax rates 

MS reported total tax rates13 ranged from EUR 9/MWh to EUR 34/MWh in 2018, with a median of 

EUR 19/MWh. Total reported tax rates for 2008 and 2018 by EU MS are shown in Figure 1-5, in rank 

order from lowest on the left to highest in 2018 on the right. Reported tax rates are those researched 

by country experts from national sources, such as energy and finance ministries.  

12 Calculated as the weighted average tax rate, i.e., the sumproduct of tax rates by sector and energy volumes by 
sector divided by the total energy volume. This is the same as total revenues divided by total volumes.  
13 Total reported tax rates account for exemptions and reduced rates. 

19 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Final Report – Energy Taxes: Energy costs, taxes and the impact of government interventions on investments 

Figure 1-5 Reported total tax rates on energy consumption in the EU27 in 2008 and 2018 

h
W
M
/
R
U
E

30

20

10

0

U
H

G
B

O
R

L
P

E
B

T
L

Z
C

R
H

S
E

V
L

I

E F
E

T
A

T
P

K
S

I

U S
L

E
I

E
S

T
M

2008

2018

Y
C

K
D

R
F

L
E

L
N

T

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E
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l
a
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The distribution of total reported tax rates across EU MS is bi-modal, with the first mode centring 

around EUR 10/MWh and the second around EUR 20/MWh – at the right-tail there are four MS with rates 

of above EUR 30/MWh (Figure 1-6).14 The bar chart in Figure 1-7 shows how reported tax rates 

statistically compare. The dotted blue lines show the interquartile range15 (between 14 and 24 

EUR/MWh). MS with tax rates less than the line on the left have relatively low tax rates while those 

with values greater than the line on the right have relatively high rates. 

Figure 1-6 Histogram of total reported tax rates in 2018 in EU MS 

14 The median is represented by the grey dotted line. 
15 The interquartile range or ‘IQR’ is calculated as: IQR = Q3 − Q1, where Q1 and Q3 are the 25th and 75th 
  percentiles (and ‘Q’ denotes ‘quartile’). 

20 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Final Report – Energy Taxes: Energy costs, taxes and the impact of government interventions on investments 

Figure 1-7 Total reported tax rates in 2018 in EU MS16 

Tax rates by sector 

Energy consumption in the EU27 decreased 4% between 2008 and 2018 to 911 million ktoe.17 Residential 

and energy intensive industry account for nearly all the drop in about equal parts, while passenger road 

transport accounts for the largest increase in energy use, followed by construction and agriculture. 

Figure 1-8 Share of energy consumption by sector, 2008 and 2018 

Sector
Fishing 
Indu-Mining 
Trans-water 
Trans-rail 
Trans-air 
Construction 
Agriculture 
Indu-non-EII 
Trans-road-freight 
Services 
Indu-EII 
Trans-road-passenger
Residential 

2008
0.1%
0.4%
0.6%
0.7%
0.6%
0.7%
2.6%
5.6%
11.1%
14.1%
19.2%
16.6%
27.7%

Absolute 
change
0.0%
0.1%
-0.1%
-0.1%
0.1%
0.3%
0.3%
0.1%
0.1%
0.5%
-1.5%
1.1%
-1.0%

2018
0.1%
0.4%
0.5%
0.6%
0.7%
1.0%
3.0%
5.8%
11.3%
14.6%
17.7%
17.8%
26.6%

16 The blue dashed lines indicate the interquartile range. 
17 https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/products-datasets/-/t2020_34  

21 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Final Report – Energy Taxes: Energy costs, taxes and the impact of government interventions on investments 

Tax rates by sector range from EUR 6/MWh for EIIs to EUR 51/MWh for road transport (2018). The 

statistical dispersion of rates by sector, measured by the interquartile range, tripled between 2008 and 

2018. This means there is now more differential tax treatment across sectors than there was in 2008. 

Rates increased the most, in absolute terms, in the non-energy-intensive industry, services and 

construction sectors, while rate changes in the passenger road and water transport sectors were small. 

Rates increased the most, in percentage terms, for non-energy-intensive industry (138%) and agriculture 

(119%).18  

Figure 1-9 Tax rates by sector in the EU27, 2008 and 2018 

Tax rate (EUR/MWh)

Sector

 Indu-EII 
 Trans-water 
 Trans-rail 
 Agriculture 
 Residential 
 Indu-Mining 
 Indu-non-EII 
 Construction 
 Services 
 Fishing 
 Trans-road-freight 
 Trans-road-passenger

Interquartile range

2008
2.7
9.9
9.8
5.8
8.6
10.8
7.7
10.9
11.6
18.0
47.7
50.7

4.9

2018
6.5
9.2
12.7
12.6
14.3
15.8
18.3
18.9
21.8
26.4
50.0
51.1

17.1

Change (2018 v. 2008)
Increase/ 
Decrease 
(%)
136%
-7%
30%
119%
66%
46%
138%
74%
88%
46%
5%
1%

Absolute 
(EUR/MWh)
3.7
-0.7
3.0
6.9
5.7
5.0
10.6
8.1
10.2
8.4
2.3
0.4

# MS taxing sector

2008
26
11
20
24
26
24
25
23
27
14
27
27

2018
25
13
23
26
27
25
25
26
27
20
27
27

Tax rates within industry 

Tax rates widely vary by industry type across EU MS. Figure 1-10 shows the distributions of tax rates for 

EIIs, non-EIIs and mining. The dotted red lines show the median of each distribution and indicate the 

skewness of the tax rates within each sub-sector. The distribution of tax rates on EIIs is the most left-

skewed, with 11 MS charging EUR 1/MWh or less, and only three member states charging more than 

10 EUR/MWh, whereas there are six MS charging non-EIIs EUR 1/MWh or less and 6 MS charging more 

than EUR 10/MWh. The median tax rate on EIIs is half that of non-EIIs and overall, and in the EU27 in 

total EIIs are taxed three times less than non-EEIs and half that of mining. 

18 It has been common practice for aircraft fuel for international flights to be exempted from all taxes - a policy 
originally established to promote civil aviation during its infancy. The legally binding exemptions are found in 
bilateral air service agreements. Regarding the application of energy taxation to aviation fuel, the Commission 
considers that the process of removing all legal obstacles from bilateral air service agreements remains essential and 
will continue. 

22 

 
 
 
 
 
Final Report – Energy Taxes: Energy costs, taxes and the impact of government interventions on investments 

Figure 1-10 Histograms of reported tax rates in EU MS by industry type in 2018 

Our research indicates that several EU MS have tax rates of nearly zero on EIIs. The word ‘indicates’ is 

key here – many assumptions comprise the calculated tax rates on industry. First, classification of 

specific industries into energy-intensive and non-energy-intensive categories (see Figure 1-2). Second, 

in many cases country experts could not provide tax rates by industry type because the rates were not 

reported by national sources at that level. In these cases, the core team made professional judgments 

about which tax rate was appropriate to apply in the database. This was particularly complicated for 

tax rates on natural gas and electricity, which are sometimes ‘tiered’ or ‘blocked’ by consumption 

volume, yet consumption is not often reported by tier or block. In these cases, we needed to determine 

which tax rate tier was the most applicable to industry; or to calculate an average rate.  

These types of assumptions partially explain variances in tax rates and revenues reported here versus 

those reported by Eurostat.19 

Tax rates by fuel 

Energy consumption in the EU27 decreased 4% between 2008 and 2018 to 911 million ktoe;20 

consumption of gasoline dropped by a fifth, accounting for about half the total decrease. Solid fossil 

fuel use also dropped by a fifth, though it accounts for only 2% of total energy use in 2018 (Figure 1-11). 

19 Note also that reporting by Eurostat only covers ‘taxes’ and not non-tax levies (such as those financing RES, EE and 
nuclear decommissioning). Neither does the Council of European Energy Regulators (CEER) provide such reporting on 
non-tax levies. These differences add to the challenge of comparing the tax revenue estimates here to those 
reported by Eurostat and CEER. 
20 https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/products-datasets/-/t2020_34  

23 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Final Report – Energy Taxes: Energy costs, taxes and the impact of government interventions on investments 

Natural gas use decreased 3%, while its share of total use increased slightly. Consumption of liquid 

biofuels about doubled, and heat pump use increased five-fold to 1% of total energy consumption in 

2018. 

Figure 1-11 Share of energy consumption by fuel in the EU27, 2008 and 2018 

Gas oil, 26%

Electricity, 22%

Natural gas, 21%

26%

23%

22%

30%

20%

10%

Gasoline, 9%

Primary solid 
biofuels, 7%

Heat, 5%

All other, 4%

Solid FF, 3%

LPG, 2%

1%
Heat pumps, 0%

0%

7%

5%

3%

2%

1%

Blended biodiesels, 
1%
Kerosene-jet fuel, 
1%

2008

2018

Figure 1-12 shows total tax rates for the EU27 by fuel, which range from EUR 2/MWh to EUR 108/MWh 

(2018). Tax rates increased the most, in absolute terms for biofuels (except pure biodiesels, which 

decreased significantly) and electricity. Only one MS taxes peat (Ireland) and two tax consumption of 

pure biogasoline (Spain and Sweden), whereas all MS tax gasoline and diesel (gas oil). Our research 

found there are several MS who do not tax consumption of electricity and natural gas. Based on 

available data, there are no taxes on the following fuels in any EU MS: 

24 

 
 
 
 
Final Report – Energy Taxes: Energy costs, taxes and the impact of government interventions on investments 

1.  Aviation fuels; 

2.  Charcoal; 

3.  Manufactured gases; 

4.  Refinery gas; 

5.  RE municipal waste; 

6.  Biogases; 

7.  Primary solid biofuels; 

8.  Other liquid biofuels; 

9.  Heat; 

10.  Non-RE waste; 

11.  Heat pumps. 

Figure 1-12 Reported total tax rates in the EU27, by fuel, 2008 and 2018 

Tax rate (EUR/MWh)

Change (2018 v. 2008)

# MS taxing fuel

Fuel/Product

 Petroleum coke
 Peat
 Solid FF
 Other kerosene
 Fuel oil
 Pure biodiesels
 Natural gas
 LPG
 Electricity
 Gas oil
 Blended biodiesels
 Blended biogasoline
 Gasoline
 Pure biogasoline

Interquartile range

2008
1.2
0.0
1.4
0.2
4.1
16.7
5.9
8.5
13.4
32.3
26.2
28.6
68.2
78.8

25.9

Absolute 
(EUR/MWh)
0.5
2.3
1.5
3.8
0.9
-10.7
1.1
2.8
18.7
6.4
16.2
23.8
-1.2
29.0

Increase/ 
Decrease (%)
38%
NA
108%
1985%
22%
-64%
19%
33%
140%
20%
62%
83%
-2%
37%

2018
1.7
2.3
2.9
4.0
5.0
6.0
7.0
11.3
32.1
38.6
42.4
52.3
67.0
107.8

37.1

2008
7
0
18
1
23
3
17
24
21
26
13
10
27
1

2018
7
1
23
2
23
5
23
25
25
27
16
16
27
2

Tax rates on fuels used for road transport are the highest and taxes on fuels used for industry (i.e., coal 

and coke) are the lowest. Figure 1-13 shows how tax rates on key fuels statistically compare. Each grey-

filled box represents the interquartile range and the bar within each box is the median tax rate on the 

fuel. The far-right whisker of each box is 1.5 times greater than the 75th percentile (which is 

represented by the right edge of each grey box), and the far-left whisker on each box is 1.5 times less 

than the 25th percentile (which is represented by the left edge of each box). Red dots represent 

possible outliers. The median tax rates on fuels for road transport are EUR 59/MWh on gasoline and 

EUR 37/MWh on gas oil (diesel), while the median tax rate on solid fossil fuels (i.e. coal) is EUR 1/MWh, 

EUR 2/MWh on natural gas, and EUR 4/MWh on electricity.21 

21 Note that energy inputs to the electricity sector are not taxed to avoid double taxation – only the final consumer is 
taxed on electricity consumption, not the power producer on the consumption of input fuels. 

25 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Final Report – Energy Taxes: Energy costs, taxes and the impact of government interventions on investments 

Figure 1-13 Box plots of reported tax rates for key fuels, by EU MS in 2018 (EUR/MWh) 

Taxes on electricity and natural gas 

The distribution of taxes on electricity is highly left-skewed with a long right tail; half of MS who tax 

electricity do so at below EUR 4/MWh (Figure 1-13) but tax rates set by seven MS exceed the 75th 

percentile (those MS above the upper blue dotted line in the bar chart in Figure 1-14), with a max of 

EUR 76/MWh (Germany). 

Figure 1-14 Histogram (upper)22 and bar chart (lower)23 of reported tax rates on electricity in the EU27 (2018)  

22 The dotted red line indicates the median (EUR 4/MWh) 
23 The area between the two blue dotted lines is the interquartile range (between 1 and 24 EUR/MWh). 

26 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Final Report – Energy Taxes: Energy costs, taxes and the impact of government interventions on investments 

Tax rates on natural gas in 2018 ranged from zero to EUR 37/MWh. The overall rate on natural gas in 

the EU27 was EUR 7/MWh in 2018, up just EUR 1/MWh from 2008 levels.  

Figure 1-15 Reported tax rates on natural gas in the EU27 (2018) 

€/MWh

CY MT PL

LT

BE

CZ

LU SK HR RO BG LV HU ES

PT

IE

EE

EL

AT

FR

IT

SI

DE NL

FI

DK SE

0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.5 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 1.0 1.1 1.6 1.9 1.9 2.4 2.7 5.2 5.3 5.8 6.1 6.8 7.0 9.3 18.7 19.9 33.6 36.9

1st quartile

Interquartile range

Median

90th percentile

Estimated tax revenues 

Total revenues from taxes on energy consumption increased 23%, from EUR 213 billion in 2008 to 

EUR 263 billion in 2018. 47% of the revenue in 2018 was accounted for by Germany and France, and 

another 28% by Italy, Spain and the Netherlands. 

Figure 1-16 Revenue from taxes on energy consumption in the EU27 (2018) 

250

200

s
n
o
i
l
l
i
b

€

150

100

50

0
2008

Rest of EU27

NL

ES

IT

FR

DE

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

27 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Final Report – Energy Taxes: Energy costs, taxes and the impact of government interventions on investments 

Estimated revenues from taxes on energy consumption as a percentage of GDP decreased slightly, from 

2.1% to 1.9%, in the EU27 between 2008 and 2018.24 Values range from 0.8% to 2.8% in 2018, with a 

median of 1.8% (Figure 1-17).  

Figure 1-17 Estimated tax revenues as a % of GDP in 2008 and 2018 in EU MS 

P
D
G
f
o
%

3%

2%

1%

0%

E
I

T
M

S
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A

O
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E
B

T
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K
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P

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C

U
H

2008

2018

R
F

G
B

Y
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E
E

E
D

K
S

V
L

l
a
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o
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7
2
U
E

T S

I

I

L
E

Total estimated excise tax revenues as a share of total government revenue increased from 6% to 7% 

between 2008 and 2018. Revenue shares ranged from 2% to 14% across EU MS in 2018, with a median of 

6% (Figure 1-18).   

Figure 1-18 Estimated excise tax revenues as a % of total government revenue in 2008 and 2018 in EU MS 

e
u
n
e
v
e
r

t
n
e
m
n
r
e
v
o
g

l
a
t
o
t

f
o
%

15%

10%

5%

0%

E
I

T
M

E
S

K
D

T
A

E
B

U
L

U
H

T
P

S
E

I

Z F
C

K
S

T

I

E
E

L
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Y
C

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P

2008

2018

O
R

R
H

L
N

T
L

G
B

I

R S
F

V
L

E
D

l
a
t
o
T

7
2
U
E

Tax revenues by sector 

Road transport accounts for 60% of tax revenue in the EU27, followed by residential (15%), then services 

(12%). The road transport sectors account for 90% of energy-related tax revenue in 12 MS (BE, BG, CY, 

CZ, HR, IE, LT, LU, MT, PL, PT, RO). On the other side, they account for less than half of energy tax 

revenue in three MS (DE, DK and NL) (Figure 1-19). In Denmark, the residential sector accounts for a 

third of total revenue – 80% of this is from taxes and charges on electricity. In Germany the residential 

and services sectors each account for 20% of revenue – taxes and charges on electricity make up 74% of 

residential revenues, and 86% for services. In the Netherlands, the residential sector accounts for a 

third of revenue – about half is from natural gas, and half from electricity. 

24 The share for Croatia (HR) increased significantly due to a quadrupling of excise tax rates on fuels for road 
transport. 

28 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Final Report – Energy Taxes: Energy costs, taxes and the impact of government interventions on investments 

Figure 1-19 Share of reported total tax revenue by sector in EU MS, 2018   

100%

80%

60%

40%

20%

0%

DE NL DK

SE

FI

IT EU27
Total

SK

EL

FR AT

LV HU ES

SI

EE

CY

IE

CZ MT PT HR BE

BG RO PL

LU LT

29 

 Fishing

 Trans-water

 Indu-Mining

 Construction

 Trans-rail

 Agriculture

 Indu-EII

 Indu-non-EII

 Services

 Residential

 Trans-road-freight

 Trans-road-passenger

 
 
Final Report – Energy Taxes: Energy costs, taxes and the impact of government interventions on investments 

Tax revenues by type 

Three-quarters of revenues in the EU27 were from excise taxes in 2018, and 20% were for renewables 

support. Excise taxes account for 100% of revenues in 13 member states. Renewables support accounts 

for 38% of revenue in Germany, 32% in Slovakia, 24% in Italy and 18% in France and Greece, while 

environmental charges add up to a third of revenues in Sweden, 29% in Finland and 17% in Ireland 

(Figure 1-20).  

Figure 1-20 Distribution of revenues from taxes on energy use by tax type in the EU27 (2018) 

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

DE

SK

SE

FI

IT

EU27 Total

FR

EL

IE

PL

DK

ES

HU

NL

BE

HR

AT

SI

EE

PT

CZ

LV

CY

LT

BG

MT

RO

LU

Excise taxes

Renewables support

Environmental charges

Oil stockholding fees

Nuclear taxes

Other charges

There was EUR 50 billion in additional revenues from taxes on energy consumption in 2018, compared 

to 2008. Additional revenues for renewables support accounted for EUR 40 billion, or 80% of the EUR 50 

billion. Additional excise taxes accounted for 15% (Figure 1-21). 58% of the additional revenues for 

renewables support in 2018 was from the Renewable Energies Surcharge on electricity (‘EEG’) in 

Germany; 18% was from similar charges in Italy, and 16% from comparable contributions in France.  

30 

 
 
 
Final Report – Energy Taxes: Energy costs, taxes and the impact of government interventions on investments 

Figure 1-21 Decomposition of additional revenues from taxes on energy use in 2018 v. 2008 (€ bn) 

Figure 1-22 Revenues from renewables support charges in EU MS in 2008 v. 2018 (€ bn)25 

Country

Renewables support charge
Renewable energy surcharge (EEG)

Germany

CHP levy

Offshore liability levy

Italy

France

Fee to support renewable energy services

Contribution to the public service of electricity (CSPE)

Netherlands Contribution to renewable energy storage

Greece

Special Gaseous Emissions Reduction Fee

Slovakia

System operation tariff

Denmark

Public service obligations

Hungary

Cogeneration restructuring fee

2008
5.6

0.6

0.0

3.3

1.8

0.0

0.0

0.1

0.3

0.0

2018
28.5

1.2

0.2

10.3

8.2

1.0

0.9

0.7

0.4

0.1

Change 
22.9

% Total 
change
58%

0.6

0.2

7.0

6.3

1.0

0.9

0.6

0.1

0.1

1%

0%

18%

16%

3%

2%

2%

0%

0%

Total

11.8

51.4

39.6

In 2018 EIIs and agriculture paid the least taxes relative to the amount of energy they consume, 

whereas the road transport sector paid the most; EEIs account for 18% of energy consumption and 2% of 

tax revenue and agriculture accounts for 3% of energy use and 0.5% of tax revenue while road transport 

accounts for 29% of energy consumption and 60% of tax revenue.  Figure 1-23 shows the revenue/use 

(‘RU’) factors by sector in the EU27. The RU factor is a measure of energy tax proportionality. It is 

calculated as the natural logarithm of the ratio of the share of tax revenue to the share of energy 

consumption: 

RU Factor = Ln (Share of total tax revenue / Share of total energy consumption) 

An RU factor of zero means the sector’s share of taxes on energy consumption is proportional to the 

share of energy it consumes. A factor of less than zero means the sector pays less taxes on energy 

relative to the amount it consumes, and a factor of greater than zero means the sector pays more taxes 

relative to the amount it consumes. If all sectors paid taxes on consumption proportional to what they 

consume the gold line would be horizontal at zero across the x-axis. Figure 1-23 shows that the road 

transport sectors, rail transport and non-EIIs are the only sectors paying taxes that are proportionally 

higher than the energy they consume, whereas EIIs and agriculture pay the least relative to what they 

consume. Agriculture, construction and services are all paying less taxes relative to what they consume 

compared to 2008. Conversely, residential is paying more proportionate taxes. Non-EIIs used to pay 

much lower taxes relative to their consumption, now they pay a little more relative to their use. 

25 The ‘Change’ column is the 2018 value minus the 2008 value. The ‘%Total Change’ column is the ‘Change’ value 
for the charge divided by the total change. 

31 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Final Report – Energy Taxes: Energy costs, taxes and the impact of government interventions on investments 

Figure 1-23 Revenue/Use factors by sector for the EU27 (2018)  

r
o
t
c
a
f
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s
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/
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u
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e
v
e
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1

0

-1

-2

-3

Share of total tax revenue exceeds 
share of total energy use

Share of total tax revenue equals 
share of total energy use

Share of total energy use exceeds 
share of total tax revenue

I
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2018

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Tax revenues by fuel 

Taxes on gas oil (diesel) account for the largest share of tax revenues in 2018 (41%), as they did in 2008 

(Figure 1-24). Electricity accounts for 30% of tax revenues in 2018, up 15 percentage points since 2008, 

while the gasoline share has decreased from 30% to 20%, corresponding to a 20% drop in gasoline use. 

The share of revenues from blended biodiesels increased three-fold to 2% since 2008, while the share of 

revenues from natural gas slightly decreased. 

Figure 1-24 Share of tax revenues by fuel in the EU27, 2008-2018  

100%

80%

60%

40%

20%

0%

All other

Blended
biodiesels

Natural gas

Gasoline

Electricity

Gas oil

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

Tax revenues by fuel type widely range across MS. In Spain, 57% of tax revenues come from gas oil 

(diesel), about 2.5 times that of Germany and the Netherlands. Electricity accounts for 45% of revenue 

in Germany, but half that in France, and 35% in Italy (Figure 1-25). Natural gas tax revenues add up to 

23% of total in the Netherlands, which is about equal to combined natural gas shares in Germany, 

France, Italy and Spain. 

32 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Final Report – Energy Taxes: Energy costs, taxes and the impact of government interventions on investments 

Figure 1-25 Share of tax revenues by fuel in the EU27 (2018)26 

100%

80%

60%

40%

20%

0%

MT LT LU IE HR BG CY RO EE

SI

CZ PT HU LV PL BE SK AT EL

FI DK ES

SE NL FR IT DE

26 EU MS are sorted from lowest to highest share of revenue from electricity. 

33 

All other

Solid FF

Blended biogasoline

LPG

Blended biodiesels

Natural gas

Gasoline

Electricity

Gas oil

 
 
 
 
Final Report – Energy Taxes: Energy costs, taxes and the impact of government interventions on investments 

In 2018, the least taxes were paid on coke, and solid fossil fuels relative to the share of total energy 

consumption accounted for by these fuels in the EU2727. Conversely, the amount of tax revenues paid 

on gasoline and other fuels used mainly for road transport were highest relative to their consumption 

shares (with the exception of pure biodiesel). Solid fossil fuels (i.e., coal) account for 2.5% of energy 

consumption and 0.3% of tax revenue while gasoline accounts for 7% of total energy consumption and 

20% of revenues.  

Figure 1-26 shows revenue/use (‘RU’) factors by fuel in the EU27. Tax revenues on fuels with RU factors 

of less than zero are disproportionally lower than their shares of energy use. Solid fossil fuels are the 

only fuels where tax revenues are noticeably more proportionate than they were in 2008, whereas the 

share of tax revenues on pure biodiesel is noticeably lower relative its energy use share in 2008. Fuels 

used for road transport (with the exception of biodiesel), in addition to electricity, are the only fuels 

where the share of tax revenues exceeds the share of energy use. Overall, taxes on fuels with RU 

factors of greater than zero accounted for 58% of total energy consumption in 2018 and 93% of total 

revenue.  

Figure 1-26 Revenue/use factors by fuel for the EU27 (2018) 

r
o
t
c
a
f

e
s
u
/
e
u
n
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v
e
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2

1

0

-1

-2

-3

-4

e
k
o
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y
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2018

2008

s
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27 As well as peat, but very few countries tax this fuel. 

34 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Final Report – Energy Taxes: Energy costs, taxes and the impact of government interventions on investments 

1.3  Taxes on energy production and infrastructure in the EU27 

Data from MS and UK national reports was used to estimate taxes on energy production, and Eurostat 

data was used to estimate taxes on energy infrastructure.  

Total revenues from taxes on production equalled 2% of taxes on energy use in the EU27 in 2018, as did 

total taxes on infrastructure. 

Taxes on energy production analysed for this study include taxes on producers of fossil fuels (oil, 

natural gas, coal, and other) in the EU27 in the Netherlands, Denmark, Italy, Romania, Poland and 

Germany, as well as the United Kingdom. Revenues from taxes on production fell from EUR 21 billion in 

2008 to EUR 5 billion in 2018. The Netherlands accounted for 80% of revenue in 2008, and 60% in 2018. 

80% of revenue in 2008 was from taxes on natural gas production (in the Netherlands), again falling to 

60% (also entirely from the Netherlands) in 2018. 

Figure 1-27 Revenues from taxes on energy production in the EU27, 2008-2018 

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

s
n
o
i
l
l
i
b

€

20

15

10

5

0

-5

Poland

Romania

Italy

Denmark

Netherlands

United Kingdom

Taxes on energy infrastructure are largely electricity network charges and petroleum reserve levies and 

fees. Revenues from such charges in the EU27 doubled to EUR 5 billion between 2008 and 2018. France 

is the country with the highest revenues from taxes on infrastructure; these are comprised of 

electricity network charges. 

Figure 1-28 Revenues from taxes on energy infrastructure in the EU27, 2008-2018 

0

1

2

3

4

€ billions

5

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

France

Sweden

Germany

Spain

Belgium Hungary

Ireland

Finland

Portugal

Italy

Cyprus

Poland

All other

35 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Final Report – Energy Taxes: Energy costs, taxes and the impact of government interventions on investments 

1.4  Taxes on energy consumption in G20 countries 

The approach to estimating taxes on energy use in G20 countries was the same as for the EU27. The 

data quality issues encountered in reviewing EU27 data (noted in section 1.2.2) also apply to data from 

G20 countries, although in many cases the data challenges were greater. This is why reporting on taxes 

in G20 countries is limited to 11 nations and focuses on the passenger road transport sector and specific 

countries (Japan and Canada). 

This analysis first focuses on taxes on energy used for the passenger road transport sector. The analysis 

includes data on 11 G20 countries for which the core team was able to acquire quality data from 

country experts. This subset includes: 

1.  Argentina; 

2.  Australia; 

3.  Canada; 

4. 

5. 

Indonesia; 

India; 

6.  Japan; 

7.  South Africa; 

8.  South Korea; 

9.  Turkey; 

10.  United Kingdom; 

11.  United States. 

EU MS who are also G20 members were not included in the G20 analysis, specifically Germany, France 

and Italy.  

Next, we provide more detailed ‘snapshots’ of energy taxes in Japan and Canada. Country experts and 

the core team were able to acquire reasonably comprehensive tax data for both these G20 nations. The 

snapshots include comparisons to the EU27. 

Passenger road transport sector 

Total tax rates on passenger road transport within the G20 subset are, on average, half that in the 

EU27, and vary far more; the coefficient of variation28 in the G20 subset is 62%, whereas in the EU27 it 

is 21%. The US tax rate29 is 40% that of the lowest EU MS tax rate (Bulgaria) and a quarter of the total 

EU27 rate. The rate in Japan is 22% lower than the EU27 total and equivalent to the rates in Austria, 

Romania, and Latvia (Figure 1-29).  

28 The coefficient of variation indicates the dispersion of data around the average. It is calculated as the ratio of the 
standard deviation to the average. 
29 The US tax rate includes all federal and state taxes. 

36 

  
 
 
 
 
 
 
Final Report – Energy Taxes: Energy costs, taxes and the impact of government interventions on investments 

Figure 1-29 Total tax rates on the road-transport-passenger sector in the EU27 and in 10 G20 countries (2018) 

€/MWh

60

EU27 Total

40

20

0

BG LT

ES

PL

LU HU AT

RO LV

SK HR

SI

CZ

CY

PT MT

EE

IE

DK

BE

DE

SE

EL

FI

IT

FR NL

ID

US

AR

IN

CA

AU TR

ZA

JP

KR UK

EU27

G20

37 

 
 
Final Report – Energy Taxes: Energy costs, taxes and the impact of government interventions on investments 

Japan 

Revenues from taxes on energy in Japan nearly doubled between 2008 and 2018 to EUR 58 billion; 84% 

of the growth was from renewables support charges. In 2018, 94% of revenues were from taxes on 

energy consumption (53% from excise taxes and 41% from renewables support) (Figure 1-30)30. Revenues 

from taxes on consumption equalled 1.3% of GDP in 2018, which is a third less than the total EU27 level 

and comparable to that of Spain and Austria. 

Figure 1-30 Energy tax revenues in Japan by tax type, 2008-2018 

€ bn
60

40

20

0
2008

2010

2012

2014

2016

2018

Excise taxes

Renewables support

Oil stockholding fee

The total tax rate on energy consumption grew from EUR 11/MWh to EUR 16/MWh between 2008 and 

2018 (Figure 1-31); the 2018 rate is 64% of the EU27 total tax rate on energy use and comparable to 

that of Latvia and Estonia. Tax rates for renewables support grew at 64% per year (CAGR) between the 

first year it was reported in 2012, and 2018, while excise tax rates declined at a rate of 5% per year 

during the same period (CAGR). 

Figure 1-31 Tax rates in Japan by tax type, 2008-2018 (€/MWh) 

Tax type

Excise taxes

Renewables support

Total tax rate on consumption

Oil stockholding fee

Total tax rate

2008

11.0

NA

11.0

1.0

8.8

2009

13.5

NA

13.5

1.2

11.0

2010

15.2

NA

15.2

1.4

12.3

2011

16.3

NA

16.3

1.5

13.0

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

17.9

1.1

12.5

1.6

14.7

14.1

2.5

10.4

1.5

12.3

12.8

4.5

10.1

1.5

12.0

13.2

9.8

12.1

1.6

14.3

14.7

17.0

15.4

1.9

18.1

13.9

20.1

15.9

1.9

18.5

13.3

21.6

16.0

1.8

18.6

Industry in Japan pays a greater share of taxes on energy consumption than does industry in the EU27, 

and the road transport sectors pays less (Figure 1-32). Tax revenues from EIIs in Japan are 8.0% of total 

revenues, compared to 4.6% in the EU27. Non-EIIs in Japan pay 14.0%, whereas they pay 4.3% in the 

EU27. In total, the trans-road-freight and trans-road-passenger sectors account for half the revenue 

from taxes on energy use in Japan, versus 60% in the EU27. 

Tax rates on EIIs in Japan are twice those of the EU27 (EUR 12/MWh versus EUR 6/MWh), but tax rates 

on non-EIIs are a third lower (EUR 12/MWh versus EUR 18/MWh). The difference in revenue shares is 

30 Excluding revenues from VAT and taxes on motor vehicle registration. 

38 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Final Report – Energy Taxes: Energy costs, taxes and the impact of government interventions on investments 

also driven by differences in where energy is used in Japan versus the EU27. EIIs use the most energy in 

Japan, whereas the residential sector uses the most in the EU27. The shares of energy used by EIIs is 

comparable, but non-EIIs use 14% of energy in Japan, versus 8% in the EU27 (Figure 1-33). 

Figure 1-32 Share of total revenue from taxes on energy use in Japan vs. the EU27 (2018) 

Japan

EU27

30%

20%

10%

0%

Figure 1-33 Share of energy use volumes in Japan vs. the EU27 (2018)31 

Sector

Indu-Mining

Fishing

Trans-rail

Construction

Trans-water

Trans-air

Agriculture

Trans-road-freight

Indu-non-EII

Residential

Services

Trans-road-passenger

Indu-EII

31 Sources: Enerdata (Japan) and Eurostat (EU27). 

Absolute 
difference 
(Japan - 
EU27)

Japan

EU27

0.4%

0.1%

0.6%

1.0%

0.5%

0.7%

3.0%

11.3%

5.8%

26.6%

14.6%

17.8%

17.7%

-0.3%

0.4%

0.0%

-0.2%

0.5%

0.9%

-1.1%

1.4%

8.1%

-12.2%

1.7%

-1.4%

2.2%

0.1%

0.5%

0.6%

0.7%

0.9%

1.6%

1.8%

12.7%

13.8%

14.5%

16.3%

16.4%

19.9%

39 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Final Report – Energy Taxes: Energy costs, taxes and the impact of government interventions on investments 

Canada 

Revenues from taxes on energy in Canada nearly grew by a fifth between 2008 and 2018 to 

EUR 12 billion; 56% of the growth was from provincial carbon taxes. In 2018, 100% of revenues were 

from taxes on energy consumption (55% from federal excise taxes, 33% from renewables support 

charges and 13% from provincial carbon taxes) (Figure 1-34)32. Revenues from energy taxes on 

consumption equalled 1.0% of GDP in 2018, which is half the total EU27 level, and comparable to the 

lowest levels among MS (between Ireland and Malta). 

Figure 1-34 Energy tax revenues in Canada by tax type, 2008-2018 

€ bn

10

5

0
2008

2010

2012

2014

2016

2018

Federal excise taxes

Provincial excise taxes

Provincial carbon taxes

The total tax rate on energy consumption grew from EUR 12/MWh to EUR 14/MWh between 2008 and 

2018 (Figure 1-35); the 2018 rate is 55% of the EU27 average tax rate on energy use and comparable to 

that of Croatia. Provincial carbon taxes grew at 25% per year (CAGR) between 2008 and 2018, while 

federal excise tax rates declined at a rate of -1% per year and provincial excise tax rates grew by 1% 

per year (CAGR). 

Figure 1-35 Tax rates in Canada by tax type, 2008-2018 (€/MWh) 

Tax

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

Federal excise taxes

Provincial excise taxes

Provincial carbon taxes

5.7

8.6

0.2

5.9

9.1

0.3

Total tax rate

11.6

12.5

6.6

10.2

0.4

14.2

6.3

10.2

0.5

13.9

6.6

11.3

0.6

15.4

6.1

10.8

0.6

14.7

5.6

9.9

0.5

13.4

5.9

10.6

0.5

14.2

5.7

10.3

0.6

13.9

5.6

10.1

1.4

14.4

5.2

9.5

1.8

13.8

The road transport sectors in Canada account for nearly all energy tax revenues (91%) versus 60% in the 

EU27 (Figure 1-32). In total, industry33 accounts for 1% of tax revenue in Canada versus 9% in the EU27. 

Tax rates on the road transport sectors are much lower in Canada than in the EU27 (Figure 1-26), 

therefore variance in tax rates on road transport does not explain the difference in revenue shares 

noted above. But the road transport sectors in Canada use half of total energy, versus 29% in the EU27 

32 Excluding revenues from VAT. 
33 Including EIIs, non-EIIs and mining. 

40 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Final Report – Energy Taxes: Energy costs, taxes and the impact of government interventions on investments 

(Figure 1-33). The mining industry is more important in Canada, whereas the share of energy used by 

EIIs is 7% versus 18% in the EU27, and the share of energy used by homes is three times lower.  

Figure 1-36 Share of total revenue from taxes on energy use in Canada vs. the EU27 (2018) 

Canada

EU27

60%

40%

20%

0%

Figure 1-37 Share of energy use volumes in Canada vs. the EU27 (2018)34 

Sector

Indu-Mining

Trans-water

Trans-rail

Construction

Indu-non-EII

Trans-air

Agriculture

Indu-EII

Services

Residential

Absolute 
difference 
(Canada - 
EU27)

Canada

EU27

1.5%

1.6%

2.1%

2.3%

5.2%

5.6%

5.8%

7.4%

7.9%

9.1%

0.4%

0.5%

0.6%

1.0%

5.8%

0.7%

3.0%

17.7%

14.6%

26.6%

11.3%

17.8%

1.1%

1.2%

1.5%

1.3%

-0.6%

4.9%

2.8%

-10.3%

-6.7%

-17.5%

12.6%

9.7%

Trans-road-freight

Trans-road-passenger

23.9%

27.5%

34 Sources: Enerdata (Canada) and Eurostat (EU27). 

41 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Final Report – Energy Taxes: Energy costs, taxes and the impact of government interventions on investments 

2  Conclusion 

Tax rates on energy consumption increased in the EU27 by 29% between 2008 and 2018 in real terms; 

during this time tax rates became more differentiated across sectors. The road transport sectors 

(passenger and freight) are taxed at the highest rates, and energy-intensive industry (‘EIIs’) are taxed 

at the lowest rates. EIIs also have far lower tax rates than non-EIIs.  

Tax rates considerably vary across EU MS, ranging from EUR 9/MWh (Hungary) to EUR 34/MWh 

(Germany) in total. Tax rates on industry range from nearly zero to EUR 41/MWh. Within five of the 

largest EU economies (Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands), total tax rates on electricity 

range from EUR 7/MWh (Spain) to EUR 77/MWh (Germany). 

Three-quarters of revenues in the EU27 were from excise taxes in 2018, and 20% were from renewables 

support charges. Additional support for renewables accounted for EUR 40 billion, or 80% of the 

EUR 50 billion in additional revenue in 2018 relative to 2008. 

Most tax revenues are paid by the road transport sectors, and the share of taxes they pay is 

disproportionally high compared to the shares of energy these sectors consume. Conversely, EIIs pay the 

least taxes relative to the shares of energy they consume.  

Revenues from taxes on energy production in the EU27 fell from EUR 21 billion in 2008 to EUR 5 billion 

in 2018, while taxes on infrastructure doubled to EUR 5. Total taxes on production equal 2% of taxes on 

energy use in 2018, as do total taxes on infrastructure. 

Total tax rates on passenger road transport within 11 G20 countries (including the UK, but excluding 

DE, FR and IT) are, on average, half that in the EU27. The US tax rate is 40% that of the lowest EU MS 

tax rate (Bulgaria) and a quarter of the total EU27 rate. The rate in Japan is 20% lower than the EU27 

total and equivalent to the rates in Austria, Romania, and Latvia. 

Tax rates on EIIs in Japan are twice that of the EU27 (EUR 12/MWh versus EUR 6/MWh), but tax rates on 

non-EIIs are a third lower (EUR 12/MWh versus EUR 18/MWh). 

43 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
GETTING IN TOUCH WITH THE EU 

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