Budget: Windfall tax extension ‘very least’ Chancellor could do

Reaction to the UK Budget announcement that the Chancellor will extend the Windfall Tax on energy companies for a further year, until March 2029.  

The SNP recently heavily criticised the Labour announcement that, if in government, they would extend the windfall tax until 2029.  

The Chancellor decided not to remove the loophole in the windfall tax that allows companies to claim back 91% of the cost of drilling new oil and gas fields. For example, the £3.1bn investment in the controversial Rosebank oil field will qualify the companies involved for up to £2.9bn in tax relief. 

Friends of the Earth Scotland’s just transition campaigner Rosie Hampton said:  

“As people’s bills continue to soar, extending the windfall tax is the very least the chancellor could have done to claw back some of the vast wealth that energy companies have extracted from the UK public. These fossil fuel giants have forced millions of households into fuel poverty while upholding the climate-destroying status quo. 

“The UK government has failed to close the deliberate loophole in the windfall tax which gives oil and gas companies an enormous 90% tax break on drilling new oil and gas fields in the North Sea. This handout to big polluters means that the public are further subsidising even more of the fossil fuels that are driving the cost of living and the climate crises.” 

“Alongside an urgent phase out of fossil fuels, we need to see a government-backed jobs guarantee for all offshore oil and gas workers backed by substantial investment in the transition to a fully renewable energy system in a way that supports workers and communities, especially in the North East. Incentivizing even more new fossil fuel investments will only delay this inevitable and essential transition.”