2022.09.07

The electronics tax – will it survive the parliamentary election?

Among all the issues debated during the election campaign, the electronics tax has not exactly been in first place. However, the issue has been raised several times in connection with proposals regarding both the flight tax and the plastic bag tax, as these are in the category of issues over which their environmental impact has been questioned. The question now is whether the electronics tax will survive the next government formation?

 

 

The election outcome will decide
Two blocs – not entirely surprising, is it? Among the Swedish parliamentary parties, there are now two distinct blocs when it comes to the future of the electronics tax; the red-green bloc, which wants to keep the electronics tax, but still has some wishes for changes to the tax (after the Chemicals Inspectorate and the Swedish Tax Agency's critical review of the electronics tax). These insist that the tax is effective and should remain and that the tax levy should also be increased – both with continued index increases and an over-indexation of 2 percent each year.

”"”"The fact that the design of the tax has been criticized is not the same as its rejection. We believe, based on the Swedish Chemicals Agency's previous investigations and proposals, that other simplifying solutions that strengthen the tax's environmental impact should be considered more closely by the government."” Says Erik Ezelius (S), chairman of the Riksdag's tax committee.

The parties in the blue bloc have declared that they will vote against over-indexation increases in the tax in the Riksdag and that they want to abolish the electronics tax completely. Instead, they believe that Sweden should focus on the EU focusing on the management of flame retardants throughout Europe in order to have a proper environmental impact.

”"I absolutely believe that we will try to abolish it, it serves no purpose. We also see that we have lost jobs to, for example, Denmark after Sweden had less competition. There are many taxes we need to look at and see if they are hindering development, something needs to be done in a number of different areas, including the chemicals tax (read: the electronics tax). From a telephone interview with Camilla Brodin (KD), member of the Riksdag's Committee on Industry.

…and some in between
Some parties are a little more vague when it comes to taking a hard stance for or against the electronics tax. The Center Party has nothing against the tax itself but opposes the increase in cost with the proposed over-indexation. In addition, there are proposals to extend the tax to other product groups such as building materials.

This is how Tomas Ek (C) – environmental policy spokesperson for the Center Party – puts it: ”The tax has had major problems since its introduction, it is clear. We must act on this and continue to work on this. We have also seen that the European Commission has now said that it wants to carry out a major evaluation of the legislation – we view this positively.”

The Liberals have no clear line on either indexation or whether the tax should remain at all. However, the party strongly supports the issue being addressed with renewed vigor in the European bodies (REACH and RoHS) which handle, among other things, chemicals in electronics for the entire European market. On the party's website, it is written under the EU policy page that they ”"Looks positively at the possibility of introducing a chemicals tax (read: electronics tax) to remove hazardous chemicals in products.". In the same breath, the Liberals believe that legislation and taxation of chemicals could be advantageously decided on at the European level to create further strong incentives for manufacturers to switch to better substances in, for example, flame retardants for electronics.

A "choice compass" for white goods people
It now seems that the election outcome will have a direct impact on the future of the electronics tax in Sweden. In a previous post in APPLiAnytt we presented an in-depth analysis of all parliamentary parties' stance on the electronics tax - it may be worth reading through it, if you haven't already. It serves as a good election compass for us white goods and household appliance people! Link to the in-depth analysis is available here.

Kent Oderud, Chairman, APPLiA – Sweden