Should oil companies pay a windfall profits tax?
Oil companies should put more into the Government’s coffers. But I don’t believe that should be through a windfall tax. A windfall tax is a one-off that smacks of desperation. It sounds as if the Government is eager to raise some cash quickly and decides to plunder the bank account of firms who are doing rather well. If a company has had a successful year of more, why should it be penalized by a legalized raid on its profits? The oil companies already pay huge amounts of taxes as it is. I do think that there is a more justified way of the Government increasing the money it makes from oil – and that is to increase tax on petrol at the pumps. Make the motorist pay more. That will act as an environment tax. Vehicles are polluting our planet with their CO2 emissions. If motorists have to pay more, they will think twice about getting in their car to drive to the shop down the road. They will think about car sharing – if two people commute from one street to the same town or city, then they
Oil companies should put more into the Government’s coffers. But I don’t believe that should be through a windfall tax. A windfall tax is a one-off that smacks of desperation. It sounds as if the Government is eager to raise some cash quickly and decides to plunder the bank account of firms who are doing rather well. If a company has had a successful year of more, why should it be penalized by a legalized raid on its profits? The oil companies already pay huge amounts of taxes as it is. I do think that there is a more justified way of the Government increasing the money it makes from oil – and that is to increase tax on petrol at the pumps. Make the motorist pay more. That will act as an environment tax. Vehicles are polluting our planet with their CO2 emissions. If motorists have to pay more, they will think twice about getting in their car to drive to the shop down the road. They will think about car sharing – if two people commute from one street to the same town or city, then they
