Hard-up British tax payers shelled out £20 billion too much in 2007 in green tax and its our cars that bore the biggest brunt, the Taxpayers' Alliance (TPA) has claimed.
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.
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.
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?
