'Too high' green taxes attacked.

GREEN taxes are far higher than is necessary to offset the cost of Britain's carbon emissions, a pressure group said today.

Households pay pounds 19.6bn a year too much in taxes on flights, fuel and their cars, the Tax Payers' Alliance said.

The total burden of green taxes and charges was pounds 24.2bn in 2007/08, even though the social cost of the UK's entire output of greenhouse gases was pounds 4.6bn, say estimates from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

The Government estimates the cost of greenhouse gas emissions as pounds 16.3bn, which would mean green taxes are still pounds 7.9bn too high, the Alliance said.

A spokesman said: "Green taxes are far higher than is necessary to pay for our carbon footprint, which loads an unfair burden on to hard-pressed British families and businesses.

"With the credit crunch squeezing household budgets people can ill afford this extra tax grab. It's dishonest to wrap revenue-raising tax hikes in a green banner."