Narrowly, voters said no to scrapping the windfall tax, and the most-respected arguments against were less about tax rates than about who gets the benefit of North Sea gas.
The top Yes case was an investment argument: “A 78% headline tax rate is completely unsustainable” if companies are to invest, it said, warning of heavier reliance on imported oil and gas. Another Yes voter put it more bluntly: “78% of nothing is nothing.” A more technical Yes voter pointed to Norway, which they said lets exploration costs be offset against the tax bill.
The No side had joint most-respected arguments, and they diverged. One wanted the levy put into a sovereign wealth fund, another wanted Scotland to get a fairer share, and a third warned that scrapping it means “YOU, me & every other UK citizen will have to make up the shortfall”. A more conditional No voter said that if the companies are selling oil abroad, then no; tax relief might work if the profits stay in the UK.
The sharpest crossover is on ownership. Some Yes voters wanted the tax scrapped but with conditions: a share of output reserved for the UK, or outright nationalisation, “by owning the fields”. A No voter, meanwhile, called the question “a truly wild question” for asking whether to scrap a good thing to encourage a bad one.
Both sides spoke of the same gas; they disagreed on who should profit from it.
59 Opinions
A 78% headline tax rate is completely unsustainable if we want companies to actually invest in UK energy. Industry groups and the SNP are right to demand it be scrapped early to protect North Sea jobs. If we don't restore investment by cutting the windfall tax, we'll just end up relying even more heavily on imported oil and gas.
Yes, by owning the fields. Why should we create a financial pretzel of taking a cut of windfall profits when prices go up worldwide, when we could own..ahem..the means of production and charge ourselves cost price.
I believe the energy companies should pay their fair share like any other business but why charge them over and above the current 40% tax. The government charges more than that to the consumer at the pumps. I am convinced the powers that be want to take cars away from us completely.
All the oil produced inside UK waters should all reach the UK for power. BP needs to be in British hands and the oil produced outside our waters by BP should reach our shores. Britain first
Taxation is like plucking a live goose, removing feathers without distressing the bird. UK policy is never subtle. Politicians want to spend our money & don’t care where they get it, although if they can milk industry before tax payer they will. Our N Sea industry & all the World Class experience & skills is being intentionally killed by Net Zero fanatics for scant benefit. UK could have set up a Sovereign Fund but didn’t as politicians could not keep their hands off.
If these companies are just selling oil privately around the world then no. Reducing tax if the oil and it's profits are kept in the UK might be an incentive.
78% of nothing is nothing. With predatory taxes, sclerotic regulation, and a bad licensing environment no company wants to go near the North Sea. We need to change this to allow a major expansion of drilling
NO Those companies are selling their products on the international stage not in the UK. If we scrap the tax it's means, YOU, me & every other UK citizen will have to make up the shortfall in taxes. Whilst the oil & gas companies make even bigger excess profits due to not paying the tax! Edited
Sad thing is it's not a renewable source. Don't scrap the windfall tax, instead, make sure Scotland gets a fairer share
The levy should be put into a sovereign wealth fund, not just treated like general revenues. We only get this gas once so let's make sure we can benefit for generations.