“It’s a kind of war dividend that has fallen to companies,” said Vice Chancellor Kogler. It is therefore a question of fairness to skim off these profits and to relieve the affected citizens and companies.
The model is divided into an “energy crisis contribution” for oil and gas companies and a “revenue cap” for electricity companies.
The average profit of the past four years is used as the assessment basis for the oil companies. Of the amount in excess of this, 40 percent will be skimmed off. The measure applies retrospectively from July 1, 2022 to December 31, 2023.
Video: Vice Chancellor Werner Kogler on the implementation of the excess profit tax:
In the electricity sector, any revenue that exceeds the upper limit of EUR 180 per megawatt hour proposed by the EU Commission will be skimmed off. The limit can drop to 140 euros if there is no evidence that investments in renewables are made.
The two members of the government did not specify which and how many companies will be affected. That depends on who crosses those boundaries. It is clear, however, that dealers, such as gas station chains, are not affected. In the case of electricity, it depends on the generation structure, and of course on the size. A small PV system with an output of less than one megawatt should not be affected, said Kogler.
Source: Nachrichten
