The Carbon Tax charged on solid fuels such as coal and peat will be doubled from this Thursday May 1st 2014. This increase will bring the tax in line with the rate charged on other fuels such as gas heating oil and petrol. (€20 per tonne of cO2)
The current rate of carbon tax on coal is €26.33 per tonne and on Peat Briquettes it is €18.33 per tonne . These rates go up by 100% in May to €52.67 per tonne on coal and €36.67 per tonne on peat briquettes.
These rises in carbon tax will result in price increases of around €1.20 on a 40kg bag of coal and an increase of about 28 cent on a 12.5kg bale of peat briquettes.
A carbon tax was first introduced in Ireland in 2010. Initially it applied to kerosene, marked gas oil, liquid petroleum gas, fuel oil and natural gas. Then in Budget 2013 it was extended to solid fuel – but it was phased in over 2 years. .
A further increase to carbon tax cannot be ruled out for Budget 2015. When it was first introduced – there was mention of it being increased to €30 per tonne of Co2 and it is currently €20 per tonne.. See Here
