An additional 25 % tax on the production of hydrocarbons in the North Sea was introduced at the end of May, relating to 65 %. It must bring in 6 billion euros per year.
by
The United Kingdom has imposed a tax on the superprofits of oil companies, but this example hardly allows to learn from it for France. The British surcharge is only essential on the benefits released by the production of hydrocarbons in the North Sea, a windfall that does not have France. After having initially considered it, Downing Street, however, gave up taxing the superprofits of electricity producers.
While the battle to succeed Boris Johnson is in full swing, the two candidates to become Prime Minister – the favorite Liz Truss and the Rishi Sunak challenge – on the contrary debate the benefits of tax cuts. The first has made tax cuts its workhorse while the second claims to defend them, but believes that the economic situation does not allow it for the moment. Liz Truss has categorically excluded to extend the superprofits tax to other sectors: “We must keep taxes at a low level in order to attract investments,” she said.
The superprofits tax across the Channel was announced on May 26. The British government has set up an additional 25 % tax on the profits of gas and oil extraction in the North Sea. This is added to the 40 % taxation which was already in place, itself a specificity of the petroleum sector, while the corporate tax across the Channel is 19 %. In total, oil and gas companies will therefore have to pay 65 % of taxes on the profits made in the North Sea from May 26. According to the British state, this must bring about 5 billion pounds sterling (6 billion euros) this year.
This sum should make it possible to finance approximately a third of exceptional aid to households to reduce their energy bill. The surcharge must remain in place until “what the prices of gas and electricity return to a more normal level” or, at the latest, in 2025.
“extraordinary profits”
Shell and BP, the two British oil giants, are particularly in the viewfinder of the general public. Between 2015 and 2020, they each received more from the British state than they pay him (except in 2017 for Shell). Partly, with a barrel of low oil, they gave off little profits, especially since the exploitation in the North Sea, deep and technical, is expensive. Partly, they also received public aid for the dismantling of historical platforms installed in the 1970s and 1980s.
You have 37.15% of this article to read. The continuation is reserved for subscribers.