The Swedish government has introduced tax breaks on those repairing clothing and white goods.
We Forum reported that Sweden is determined to do away with throwaway culture, and has reduced the VAT on bikes and clothes from 25 percent to 12 percent, while consumers can claim back income tax on white goods being repaired. Sweden’s intention is to reduce greenhouse emissions, and the tax deduction scheme is set to cost the country $54 million (€50 million), but will balance out from the new tax on white goods using harmful chemicals.
Per Bolund, Deputy Finance Minister and Member of the Green Party, is the “man behind the scheme”, and he wants people to make better choices, as well as creating jobs for skilled workers and introducing a six-hour working day.
Bolund was asked if the tax breaks would have the desired effect on peoples habits: “I think many of us have had a bike standing around broken and we don’t fix it and then start using other modes of transportation. This will expand the number of companies giving these kinds of services, so it’ll be easier for consumers to have things repaired.
“And sometimes you can be surprised by how a small change in fees can really change behaviour. We’ve seen that in the congestion charging here in Stockholm, how a fee of only 10 or 20 krona ($1 to $2/€1 to €2) can really change the patterns and in white goods, the tax break is actually quite substantial since most of the cost of repair is actually labour, so it can really make a quite big difference.”