Rishi Sunak urged to ‘shame’ oil giants avoiding windfall tax

The Independent reports the Lib Dems once again leading the way on windfall taxation:

Rishi Sunak is facing a Commons push to “name and shame” any oil and gas companies who are avoiding the windfall tax on profits and publish the precise sums collected by the government.

Oil giant Shell revealed in October that it had so far avoided paying anything under the energy profits levy because it had claimed tax relief using an investment “loophole”.

Despite tightening the rules around the “investment allowance” at the autumn Budget, the prime minister has been urged to reveal the exact amounts that fossil fuel firms pay under the windfall tax.

The Liberal Democrats have tabled an amendment to the finance bill that would force the government to publish quarterly figures – including the amounts saved under the investment allowance.

“The sums raised from the government’s so-called windfall tax are an embarrassingly small fraction of the recent oil and gas profits,” the Lib Dems’ Treasury spokesperson Sarah Olney told The Independent…

Ms Olney added: “The sad truth is that while people across Britain struggle to make ends meet this out of touch government is refusing to make oil and gas giants pay their fair share.”

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