Estimation of Environmentally-Unfriendly Government Subsidies in the Water Sector for Green Tax Reform

환경친화적 조세개편을 위한 용수부문 정부보조금 규모 분석

As in other Asian countries, the Korean government provides direct subsidies to endeavors that are potentially harmful to the environment. The water sector is one of the main recipients of these subsidies. The total amount of estimated direct fiscal subsidies equals 2.200 trillion won; however, the comprehensive cost of the subsidies is estimated to be much greater because environmental and social costs were not considered in the initial calculation. Most of the fiscal direct subsidies in the water sector are subsidized to urban water areas. The percentage of fiscal direct subsidies in the urban water sector to the total fiscal direct subsidies is 79.68%, while the percentage of fiscal direct subsidies in the industrial water sector is only 4.92%. Since the ratio of fiscal direct subsidies in the industrial water sector is quite small, the negative impact of removing fiscal direct subsidies for the industrial sector may be trivial. If the Korean government cuts dowm the VAT or income tax rate while reducing several types of subsidies, it will be able to achieve a double dividend effect both on the economy and the environment.