Consumers are struggling to pay rising bills, while energy companies are making record profits, partly as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Imposing a one-off windfall tax on these firms, which would offer more support to people who are struggling to make ends meet, seems like a logical step to offset both the moral and fiscal cost of their business. But industry disagrees, and it is industry to which Rishi Sunak appears to have listened.
“A windfall tax would be the worst thing for consumers,” claims Deirdre Michie, the CEO of Offshore Energies UK, which represents oil and gas operators. An extra tax would discourage energy companies from making “vital investments,” she suggests. “That would reduce our energy security, and make us even more dependent on imports from places such as Russia and the Middle East.” Instead, companies should be allowed to invest in platforms and pipelines “to help support the nation through the transition to net zero”.
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