Crunch time for carbon tax

Tomorrow (June 1) is D-day for the implementation of carbon tax. President Cyril Ramaphosa had signed the Carbon Tax Act into law and it would come into effect on June 1, the National Treasury said on Sunday. The Act had been gazetted on May 23, together with the Customs and Excise Amendment Act, the
Treasury said in a statement. The roadfreight industry has voiced its concern over the implications of the new tax, pointing out that the industry is completely dependent on fossil fuels with no viable alternative solutions or possibility of benefiting from any carbon offsets. A spokesman said that whilst the sector remained
supportive of measures to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and actively encouraged operators to understand their emissions profile and reduce it accordingly, he said they were worried about the impact on the sector. It’s one of several additional taxes that an already fragile industry will need to absorb.