Poll results: should oil and gas firms face a tougher windfall tax?

Coming at a time when millions in the UK are struggling to heat their homes and put food on the table, the record profits announced by energy firms in recent weeks have led to renewed calls for a tougher UK windfall tax on fossil fuel firms.

BP’s announcement of a £23bn profit in 2022 (more than double its previous year’s figures) reflects a wider earnings bonanza in a sector that has benefitted from the high fossil fuel prices driven by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. On February 2^nd, 2023, Europe’s largest oil and gas company Shell announced profits of almost $40bn (again more than double its previous year’s figures), whilst ExxonMobil and Chevron have also reported bumper earnings.  

Energy firms operating in the UK already face a windfall tax: the so-called Energy Profits Levy, an additional tax on UK oil and gas “extraordinary profits” that currently stands at 35 per cent. However, critics of the scheme claim that as the levy only applies to selected profits it doesn’t go far enough and that it should be revamped to cover more of the earnings made by energy companies.