> Should we put an extra tax "at source" for - online shopping to support high street retailers ?
Some countries are losing revenue, especially where products are bought from overseas and are not subject to some kind of value tax such as VAT, Sales Tax, GST. So yes some countries are looking into how they can tax online shopping. Which this is not to support the retail industry, it is to prop up the Government's funds.
> electric car manufacturers to support the oil industry?
Some countries are looking at taxing electric vehicles differently because they lose the excise taxes attached to fuel consumption. Which this is not to support the oil industry, it is to prop up the Government's funds.
> all renewable energy companies to support coal mines?
This will come, it is expensive to build and maintain power infrastructure. This will be especially more susceptible when power infrastructure is nationalized in a country.
The first example here was interesting as it displays a loss in tax revenue, the second is a loss in revenue to cover the cost of existing services, and the third an example of the same.
If the government builds infrastructure for a train for example, the cost does not stop because people stop using it. There maybe loans which need to be paid, maintenance which needs to be ongoing, jobs which need to be paid for etc. While over the long term this may dwindle down, the short term is that these costs need to be covered. Just like if you lost your job, you would be looking for a new job to cover your expenses, they just don't go away, the government does the same thing by relocating or reallocating taxes or revenue generation to another sector.
While I don't agree with the concept put forward, the general principles make sense.