29th Mar 2023 13:40
(Alliance News) - Shell PLC paid around GBP7 million in UK taxes last year and a further GBP8 million in fees despite the UK government's plans to tax the oil company's record profit.
The company was able to write down its tax bill by around USD42 million due to the money it is spending in the country.
But despite the low bill, it is in fact the first time since 2017 that Shell has paid more in tax than it was able to write off.
The business paid a total of just under USD18 million in taxes and fees in the UK last year, it revealed on Wednesday.
It is a massive jump from 2021 when Shell paid USD10.7 million in fees on the one hand but on the other was handed back USD132 million from HM Revenue & Customs.
It left the company with a negative bill in the UK of around USD121 million that year.
The business has had a negative tax and fees bill of around USD100 million or more in each of the years between 2018 and 2021.
Global Witness, a non-governmental organisation, said that 2022's tax bill means that Shell paid just GBP4.50 per citizen in the UK, compared to GBP1,171 it paid to the Norwegian public purse per person in Norway.
Jonathan Noronha Gant, a fossil fuel campaigner with the group, said: "In a year that the UK public saw bills skyrocket and millions were plunged into poverty, it is totally unacceptable that a UK based energy giant paid a pittance in tax to the UK.
"Governments around the world should help people, not polluters. They need to change the tax system by implementing a people-first tax on oil and gas without the loopholes, like in Norway, and a tax on big bonuses for executives."
He added: "Despite record profits and enormous CEO pay it's clear the UK windfall tax simply hasn't worked. This government has failed to effectively confront the extreme wealth and power yielded by companies like Shell, much to the detriment of its own people."
By August Graham, PA Business Reporter
Press Association: Finance
source: PA
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