Would progressive taxation not already accomplish the intended goal of such a carbon tax by suppressing high-income consumption? Why add a second mechanism?
Part of the reason the USA is so much more successful and wealthier than Europe is because the taxes are much lower and simpler.
How about an extreme example? Ukraine is not in the EU but it has an even lower tax rate than Poland. It's doing far worse even by polish standards (1/3 of the GDP per capita of Poland).
There are companies that specialize in only hiring contractors and in a lot of cases this is simply done to avoid paying for social benefits. These are not necessarily highly paid individuals. In fact, many are at the bottom of the economic ladder.