Noise pollution taxes: a possibility to explore

Noise pollution has wide-ranging adverse health, social and economic effects. This chapter explores the current state of the art of noise pollution taxation in order to identify what role it can play within the environmental taxation framework. Although there are few environmental taxes in force directly addressing noise pollution, in instances where these have been applied, they have been successful. Nowadays, certain circumstances favour noise pollution taxes becoming a real option. The electric car is a real possibility, allowing for new taxes aiming to drive the market towards options that are more favourable to the environment with respect to noise emissions and that, simultaneously, help neutralise the social costs of acoustic emissions. The application of noise pollution taxes to motor vehicles is of particular interest due to the number of motor vehicles and their polluting effects, and because of the growing concentration of the population in large cities.