Truss Under Pressure After EU Agrees Windfall Tax Plan

The prime minister, Liz Truss, has come under renewed pressure to extend the government's windfall tax on oil and gas giants after the European Commission set out plans for a tougher levy as part of its plan to shield citizens from surging energy prices.

- Jon Stone

A draft of the EU plans would see oil, gas, coal, and refining firms required to make a “solidarity contribution” of 33 per cent of their taxable surplus profits from the fiscal year 2022, compared to the 25 per cent levy imposed on UK-based firms by former chancellor Rishi Sunak earlier this year.

Ms Truss has set her face against another raid on excess profits calculated by the Treasury at as much as £170bn, causing economists to warn that ordinary taxpayers will be repaying the 100bn-plus cost of her emergency price freeze for decades to come.

Following yesterday’s commission announcement, TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady urged the PM and chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng to think again, arguing that she was asking the wrong people to foot the bill for soaring prices.