UK ratchets up windfall tax

Analysts and industry are left dismayed by larger-than-expected hike and potential unintended consequences

The UK government’s mid-November Autumn Statement raised its Energy Profits Levy (EPL), or so-called windfall tax, from January next year by 10 percentage points, to 35pc, taking the overall tax burden for producers to 75pc. It also extended its life from a previous promise to repeal it when prices returned to an undefined ‘normal’ level or by the end of 2025 to the end of March 2028 with no prospect of any price-related relief before then. Analysts are unconvinced by the move. “Assuming the lights are still on, will the last energy companies to leave the North Sea please turn them off,” quips Chris Wheaton, analyst at US investment bank Stifel. He dubs the government policy the ‘windfall ta