The newly introduced excise taxes on a number of products ranging from non-alcoholic beverages to construction-related products is a step in the wrong direction by the government. While the business community has welcomed the total abolition of eco-contribution, which was introduced in 2004 in the most reckless of manners, it has protested unilaterally at the stance now taken by the government, that of setting up excise taxes on some of the products that in the past were liable to eco-contribution, in addition on other new products.

While there exists a number of reasons for imposing excise taxes, the first is undoubtedly that of raising revenue, or as is in this case, substituting revenue from eco-contribution with excise taxes. There are more appropriate ways to raise revenue than by levying taxes on a discriminatory number of products.

In itself and on its own merits, this is a weak justification for imposing excise on a small number of products. Over the years, we have across the EU, as equal citizens, residents of this community, lived with excise emanating from tobacco, fuel, energy and alcohol products. It should stop there.

The government was also aware that the business community was exempted from the payment of eco-contribution if individual producers were members of a packaging waste scheme or an authorised WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) compliance scheme.

Government’s income from eco-contribution in 2015 exceeded €8.1 million. In 2017 income from excise duties introduced on non-alcoholic beverages, toiletries and construction material will exceed €8.59 million. It is a shame that the powers that be talk of the removal of eco-contribution and that it should result in a decrease to consumer prices. It is surely not to be.

In addition these excise duties are once again setting up the scene for lucrative tax evasion, an unfair playing field and added bureaucracy, and finally increased final prices to end consumers.

If the government required €9 million for any of its operations, namely at Wasteserv or to fund the newly set up agency to counter loss of revenue and the long talked about current unfair playing field, it should have acted much wiser.

The business community asks, what is more environmentally damaging, toiletries, their content, their packaging waste or clamshells with a hinged lid made of expanded polystyrene (those used for burgers) of which we see so many going to landfill as contaminated waste? The latter have somehow become exempt from eco-contribution and also excise duties but still liable to Legal Notice 277 of 2006, namely the Packaging and Packaging Waste Legislation.

A government that truly has the environment at heart should have announced a staggered increase in the landfill fee from its current €20 per ton to €60 or €80 per ton, which is more near the sustainable cost of landfilling today. That decision would have driven the business community and the public to segregate more the waste they both generate and place recycling higher on their agendas, if we want to reach national and EU targets.

These excise duties are once again setting up the scene for lucrative tax evasion

The previous administration had started on this by increasing the landfilling fee from 99 cents per ton to €20 per ton, but stopped short of continuing this structured staggered increase after 2010.

Back to excise, so if Germany introduced an excise duty on coffee, then should Malta follow suit? I thought that this country was performing very well economically and surely this was not the right time to once again add excise duties on a number of products.

We need to remember that this precedent came about last year although excise on cement had been there since 2010 when the government received €254,000 in excise taxes. In 2017, the government has projected an income of over €16 million in such taxes from cement and construction products alone.

In so doing, the government is instigating an increase in the cost of properties and rentals. This is exactly what developers and construction contractors need, an easy excuse to increase both property prices and rent. An excuse served on a silver plate backed by a strong demand.

The business community is angry at the fact that it took 12 years to remove the eco-contribution which placed Maltese businesses far from par with businesses in the community. Now that this is gone, the government comes up with excise duties. When will this harassment end? While this pro-business government might say that introducing or increasing excise duties is its prerogative, let it be known that this was never part of its electoral manifesto and was never discussed or agreed with the business community. The business community was not consulted at all.

I have a dream, a dream that one day, this government or a future government will take the following initiatives forward, thus creating a fair playing field without the need to introduce excise duties or increase excise duties. Not only, but it would be able to once again remove such duties.

Increase landfill tipping fee to sustainability (by staggering the increase of the gate fee by €10 at the beginning of each year until the final cost meets sustainability) with such fees charged to all waste generators, be they in the business sector or the public.

Ascertain that commercial catering establishments in all localities use a different coloured bag for mixed waste disposal or for food waste disposal, use the services of an authorised waste carrier who has no contracts with local councils for the collection of mixed waste, thus paying the waste carrier for collection and landfilling services, or else use the services of a collection organised by the local council for the business community within that locality or a group of localities at a sustainable fee.

Address the current situation of construction and demolition waste by making producers of such waste responsible for a high percentage of what they place on the market through providing recycling services of such waste on the same construction site. This could be done on an individual basis or through an authorised compliance scheme.

To conclude, excise duties are what they are, they are funds received by the public coffers and used for whatever reason the government wants to use them. They are not directed in anyway towards the environment and never will be.

It is high time we called a spade, a spade.

Joe Attard is chief executive officer, Green MT.