Thesis title: La Plastic Tax: fiscalità ambientale e transizione “Green”
This doctoral thesis analyzes the Plastic Tax as an environmental taxation tool within the context of the “Green” transition promoted by the European Union. This work seeks to differentiate between specific environmental taxes—those aimed expressly at protecting the environment, such as taxes on emissions or waste—and taxes in the broader sense, which indirectly affect the environment through incentive or disincentive mechanisms.
The research also focused on issues inherent in an evolutionary interpretation of the principle of contributory capacity (Article 53 of the Constitution), traditionally linked to income, reinterpreting it in an evolutionary key to give environmental taxes in the strict sense a place in the national tax system.
An attempt was also made to highlight the tensions between tax fairness and ecological objectives, such as the regressive impact on low-income consumers and the need for redistributive corrective measures.
Through a comparative approach, analyzing the Spanish equivalent of the tax on single-use plastic products, the thesis highlights the urgency of constitutional change to balance economic growth and environmental protection.