Ecology, Estonia, Financial Services, Taxation, Transport

The biggest growth meanwhile occured in the sum total of charges paid by businesses active in mining and energy, which taken together rank as the third biggest payer of environmental charges in Estonia.

The sum total of environmental taxes and fees paid by the mining and energy sector in 2014 was 113 mln euros, 34 mln euros more than in 2011. The figures include the fee for mining rights, which strictly speaking is not an environmental fee.

The bigger intake was mainly the result of increases in the fuel excise duty rate and, to a smaller degree, bigger consumption of fuels.

Overall, environmental charges totaled 558 mln euros in 2015, equaling 2.75% of Estonia's GDP.

Environmental charges are divided in four categories. The first are energy fees, or the fuel and electricity excise duty. Ranked as transport charges are heavy vehicle tax and vehicle registration fee, whereas the fee for special use of water and the fishing rights fee are ranked as resource taxes. Ranked as pollution taxes are the fee for the release of pollutants into the atmosphere, into the ground and into the water, the charge for the disposal of waste and the package excise duty.