How will the carbon tax effect your business?

[JakeThomas]

The long awaited details of our carbon tax has finally been released.

If you haven't been keeping pace with developments, the basics on what a carbon tax is and how it operates can be found here.

A good list of pros and cons can be found here.

I've been doing a bit of research and it appears the price increase on most foods will be around 0.5-1% and the average electricity bill will be increased by around 10%.

What are your thoughts on the new tax and how will it affect your business?

[YVB]

I hope your research is not the word of the same person that promised no carbon tax in the first place?

I have a few problems with it in that adding cost does not stop carbon emmissions it just adds cost and as per the post yesterday.
If it stopped carbon emissions I'd support 100% but this won't stop carbon emission at all - it will however increase COGS and don't let anyone fool you things will go up or people will lose jobs - you cannot add costs without accepting lower profits (and which shareholders would do that?). It's either taking other costs out (people are often a business’s biggest cost) or prices go up. Please don't take this as pro pollution I'm not at all but ideals and reality are often poles apart.

[JakeThomas]

I tried to be impartial with my research, feel free to contradict if you find anything more appropriate =)

I believe the point of the Carbon Tax is to make it lucrative for businesses to choose more environmentally friendly options in their everyday operations. I've done a bit of reading on the other countries that have introduced them thus far, and it doesn't appear their economy is falling apart as it's been suggested ours will.

For quite some time now, coal and other high emitting forms of energy production, due to their subsidies and mass use have been very cheap forms of energy. I think the point of the carbon is to help level the playing field by making renewables more economically attractive.

And even if you take the environmental factor out of this, the world is moving towards cleaner more efficient forms of energy whether we like it or not. This is a chance to give our high tech and renewable energies and boost!

- Jake

[YVB]

Jake it’s not about contraction or who's right and wrong - I'm just critical of the solution. No one is saying the economy will fall apart but it will make competing on the world stage just that little more difficult than it already is and it will increase the cost of living. Manufacturing in Australia is declining because of high costs and this will just accelerate things. It may even make more big companies consider moving offshore (like so many have) to where there are more attractive options and this will have a knock-on effect and affect the economy (ask yourself why the A$ is so high at the moment). Now being critical of something without an alternative is just whinging - If you really want to change something and have legislative power do it that way (put caps and time limits) but a tax on only the top 500 polluters as a solution and then compensating people for it is just laughable in my opinion.

I’m also NOT pro pollution or motivated by money - I make as little impact on this planet as I can and have taught my children to do the same - I'm an older generation surfer, and have been a voluntary custodian since the 70's when I started surfing and have always respected the planet and mother nature trying to live in harmony not discord. I freely give my time to many activities and organisations that regenerate and help humanity and the environment (not just the ocean).

[v2Media]

In a recent survey, Melbourne and Sydney ranked 17th and 18th for the most expensive cost of living cities in the world. Brisbane and Perth came in the low 30's. Cost of living in Australia has completely run rampant and any new tax that adds to the cost of living is rubbing salt into the wounds.

However as far as carbon tax on manufacture and mining companies is concerned, I feel all companies that mass produce carbon are profiting at the behest of the environment. If a new tax forces these companies to optimise their processes to reduce carbon output to reduce tax overhead, I'm all for it. However I seriously doubt many companies will invest in carbon output reduction technologies. Most will probably reduce overhead to regain profit and continue to pump carbon unabated.

If carbon tax is to increase the cost of living, that's going to be painful for many people. I, for one, would be comfortable with that pain if I knew it would make a difference. However I have zero faith that it will. Insofar as cost of living is concerned, there are far more important issues that need to be resolved in Australia than carbon tax ramifications. Cost of housing is the primary one.

So I tend to focus my attention on the issues that can make a much bigger difference to the cost of living and in my opinion, carbon tax aint one of em.

[YVB]

Absolutely agree - happy to pay if I knew it would make a significant difference but I also agree with your comment that it won't (Qantas has already said they will increase costs to compensate).

I'm not clear how cost of housing fits into this if carbon tax is a non-issue - if everything gets more expensive as a result doesn't housing become even less affordable?

[v2Media]

Carbon tax would make housing a little more expensive, but not a lot. My take is that I would prefer to focus my attention on issues that would reduce housing costs a lot. For e.g. the mass release of non-agriculural land for owner-occupier home owners, pulling the pin on negative gearing, legislating against foreign ownership of housing and agricultural land.. Too many pollies and influential people have become fat on residential investment and this sh!ts me to tears.

[Burgo]

Well you can all adotatree from me, that is if you are faredincum about trying to save the planet.

A Tax will do absolutly nothing unless those polluting feel there is need for a change. Invention of something to stop pollution from happening started many years ago, but I believe somethings were shelved because they would have been too expensive to impliment.

What I see is a not very well thought out plan. The top 500 polluters are going to be taxed at $ 23.00 per tonn, then the payments from these top 500 will be dispersed to those poor unfortunate people that are finding it difficult to pay the bills from electricity, gas and water, let alone the grocery, petrol & other essentials.

There is no way a tax of any description will alter climate. Volcanoes do more damage to the climate than man will ever do and that is FACT.
Im sorry but I just cant bring my years of living on this planet to believe a Tax will alter anything other than make us a whole lot worse off.

I do believe these 500 polluters would be willing to change their ways if someone could show them how, and help finance such a massive undertaking taxing them is NOT a solution, it will become a cause which will have quite some negative affects on our standard of living.

If you really believe a Tax will achieve positive results, then you havent really lived long enough to see that a Tax in NOT an answer.

[v2Media]

"If you really believe a Tax will achieve positive results, then you havent really lived long enough to see that a Tax in NOT an answer."

So who is disagreeing with you Burgo? Why try and pull the 'age rank' when it's not required...

[bridiej]

There is no way a tax of any description will alter climate. Volcanoes do more damage to the climate than man will ever do and that is FACT.
Im sorry but I just cant bring my years of living on this planet to believe a Tax will alter anything other than make us a whole lot worse off.

.

Exactly.... if it hadn't been for the huge eruption of Krakatoa the planet would be even hotter, it set temps back due to the amount of ash in the atmosphere.

I hate this tax idea. To me it just seems a crafty way of redistributing wealth - take it from the rich miners and give it to the less well off.

I also think the government needs to make up its mind if it wants to help the environment or not: implement a carbon tax BUT in the same year take away a small business tax break and give it for purchasing a new car instead?

Why not just increase the tax on fuel - therefore those that do the miles will pay the most? I'd also like to see some kind of incentive for encouraging people to work from home, it not only helps the environment but also takes cars off the road and makes cities a nicer place for those that have no option but to drive to work.

Bottom line for me: carbon tax - bad idea.