Amid the passage of the carbon tax on Wednesday, the Institute of Public Affairs (IPA) has launched a carbon tax calculator that households and small businesses can use to calculate the rise on their electricity bills.

“Australians don’t know how much the carbon tax will force up electricity prices, but the IPA’s carbon tax calculator will allow small business and households to calculate it for themselves,” said Tim Wilson, Director of Climate Change Policy at the IPA.

According to him, the average increase for most Australian small businesses, based on industry data, will be around $3,051 annually.

The costs for households are also very significant, with some experiencing increases of at least $220 annually.

The calculator’s conservative estimates are based on industry and government data. Households and small businesses will only need their electricity bill to calculate the likely carbon tax increase to their bill.

“With the carbon tax pushing up electricity bills across the country, households will need to start budgeting and the IPA’s carbon tax calculator will help them with that purpose,” he said.