Windfall tax
 | This article needs to be updated. The reason given is: proposed EU tax. (September 2022) |
A windfall tax is a higher tax rate on profits that result from a sudden windfall gain to a particular company or industry, often as the result of a geo-political disturbance, war or natural disaster that creates unusual spikes in demand and/or interruptions to supply.
Historically, taxes on windfall profits have been imposed as a result of opportunistic 'price gouging' or 'profiteering', whether perceived or real. Notable instances of sudden and dramatic increases in oil industry profits that provoked such taxes around the world include the 1970's OPEC oil embargo, the Persian Gulf wars and the global economic sanctions imposed on Russia and ensuing oil and gas shortage in response to their invasion of Ukraine.
Mongolia
Mongolia implemented in 2006 taxation on the profits made by mining companies operating in Mongolia.[1] A tax on unsmelted copper and gold concentrate produced in Mongolia, it was the highest windfall tax in the world.[2] The tax was repealed in 2009 and phased out over two years. Repealing the 68% tax law was considered essential to enable foreign mining companies to invest in mineral resources development of Mongolia.[3][4]
Turkey
In 2022 a windfall tax was levied on wind power in Turkey.[5]
United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, an early one-off windfall tax was levied on certain bank deposits as part of the 1981 budget under Margaret Thatcher. In 1997, the government of Tony Blair introduced a Windfall Tax for privatised utility companies. In 2022, Boris Johnson's government announced a windfall tax for energy companies, to help fund a package to relieve the UK cost of living crisis.[6]
United States
In 1980, the United States enacted the Crude Oil Windfall Profit Tax Act (P.L. 96-223) as part of a compromise between the Carter Administration and the Congress over the decontrol of crude oil prices.[7] The Act was intended to recoup the revenue earned by oil producers as a result of the sharp increase in oil prices brought about by the OPEC oil embargo. According to the Congressional Research Service, the Act's title was a misnomer. "Despite its name, the crude oil windfall profit tax... was not a tax on profits. It was an excise tax... imposed on the difference between the market price of oil, which was technically referred to as the removal price, and a statutory 1979 base price that was adjusted quarterly for inflation and state severance taxes."[8][7]
In Sweden, hydro power is subject to a property tax and nuclear power to a capacity-based tax. Both taxes were raised at the beginning of 2008 due to higher windfall profits. Norway similarly imposed, as of 2009, a ground rent tax on hydro-electric power plants, and Finland announced its intention in 2009 to tax nuclear and hydro power as of 2010 or 2011.[9]
On solar power
Rapid drop of photovoltaic equipment in the period 2011 to 2013 has created windfall profits conditions due to lagging response of regulators by adjustment of feed-in tariffs. Regulators in Spain, Greece, Bulgaria and Romania have introduced retroactive incentive reductions.[10] In the Czech Republic a windfall tax has been introduced on solar electricity and further clampdown of solar power companies was considered in 2014.[11]
Criticism
According to The Economist magazine windfall taxes on energy companies are a bad idea because energy markets go through boom and bust cycles - they say such taxes would deter investment in boom times because companies would fear the profits of the investments being taken in bust times.[12]
References
- ^ "2006 Minerals Yearbook - Mongolia" (PDF). United States Geological Survey. p. 15.1. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
- ^ Pistilli, Melissa (12 March 2012). "Resource Investors to Watch Mongolian Parliamentary Elections". Resource Investing News. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
- ^ Hornby, Lucy (25 August 2009). "Mongolia repeals windfall tax, paves way for Ivanhoe". Reuters. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
- ^ "Mongolia tax repeal clears way for $4 bln mine". China Mining. 28 August 2009. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
- ^ "Turkey: Wind and solar saved $7 bn in 12 months". Ember. 2022-05-24. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
- ^ The editorial board (2022-05-27). "A striking U-turn to alleviate the UK cost of living crisis". The Financial Times. Archived from the original on 2022-05-27. Retrieved 2020-06-12.
- ^ a b Thorndike, Joseph J. (November 10, 2005). "Historical Perspective: The Windfall Profit Tax -- Career of a Concept". Tax History Project. Tax Analysts. Retrieved September 4, 2016.
- ^ CRS Report RL33305, The Crude Oil Windfall Profit Tax of the 1980s: Implications for Current Energy Policy, by Salvatore Lazzari, p. 5.
- ^ Finnish energy companies face windfall tax ambush, May 8, 2009
- ^ Brown, Phillip (August 7, 2013). "European Union Wind and Solar Electricity: Overview and Considerations, CRS Report for Congress" (PDF). Retrieved January 26, 2015.
- ^ Johnstone, Chris (September 24, 2014). "Czech industry ministry prepares new measures against solar power companies to curb renewables costs". Radio Praha. Retrieved January 26, 2015.
- ^ "Windfall taxes on energy companies are a bad idea". The Economist. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 2022-09-18.
External links
- "Windfall Profits: Huge Gains Resulting From a Lucky Break". Investopedia. Retrieved 2022-03-08.