Households waste £315 on green tax 28 August 2008 Email this page Zoom British tax payers shelled out £20 billion too much in 2007 All down to green tax and our cars bore the biggest brunt Boils down to an average £315 annual loss per household Tweet And with even the Government's figures admitting that we're paying far more than the amount needed to cover the cost of CO2 emissions, each household, on average, wasted £315 a year in 2007 on unnecessary outgoings. Fuel duty - the biggest cost Green taxes aim to encourage people to be more eco-friendly by forcing them to pay extra for items that cause damage to the environment. But the TPA study states the two largest green taxes that we pay too much for are fuel duty and road tax. The Institute for Fiscal Studies says that the cost of road tax is much higher than is necessary to offset the cost of emissions. This comes at a time when motoring costs have risen by 25% in a year and road tax costs are set to change in 2009 to punish owners of higher polluting vehicles. The TPA has questioned the motives behind green tax and called for costs to be frozen or cut. People can ill afford this extra tax grab. Its dishonest and unjust to wrap revenue raising tax hikes in a green banner.Matthew Sinclair, Taxpayers' Alliance Postcode lottery - how are you affected? The report also highlights the huge regional variations in how much extra we all spend on green tax. How much cash did you throw away on green taxes last year? Figures from the TPA. More like this Car road tax up for all but the greenest cars How the budget affects you Toyota iQ won't cost the earth Think City gives small cars an electric shock High performance economy heroes