Should there be a one-off windfall tax for energy companies with big profits?

HOW can the soaring price of fuel be justified when BP and Shell have announced massive profits? These companies appear to apply the law of supply and demand in only one direction.

PETER LUCAS, Northampton. IT’S not surprising Labour wants a windfall tax on energy companies. The BP share price has dropped to 67 per cent of its value 20 years ago, without taking inflation into account. Will taxpayers compensate shareholders for the loss?

R. HARRIS, London SE9.

IF I sold potatoes from a market stall and there was a shortage of produce, my business would suffer. So why does a shortage of oil result in a massive increase in profits for energy firms?

JACK BUTTERWORTH, Oldham, Gtr Manchester. WHAT is the point of a windfall tax? All it will do is push up prices. The tax won’t be passed on to consumers, but will swell Government coffers. Instead, why not reduce the amount of tax imposed on energy providers and order an immediate 20 per cent reduction in prices to

customers. If providers don’t cut prices, slap them with a hefty windfall tax and pass it on to customers.

S. LEWIS, Newport. NO MATTER how much is money raised, I oppose windfall taxes as being fundamentally unjust. It is a case of moving the goalposts. Businesses require stability and certainty to function. There can be no confidence if capricious politicians can dip their hands in your pocket without warning. A better way to increase government funds is to raise business rates and corporation taxes. A windfall tax is nothing more than punishing success.

ROBERT FRAZER, Salford, Lancs.

THE cost of oil and gas exploration and development is enormous. Though BP’s profits are massive so is the debt. Why are politicians willing to take money from savers and investors to reward the less prudent.

T. ALLARD, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk. IF THE Government fines energy companies for making a profit, what’s to stop it doing the same to every business? What the Government should concentrate on is developing our own gas and oil resources. It might shorten the cost of living crisis and get this country out of debt.

D. EDWARDS, Leighton Buzzard, Beds. WHILE energy companies have admitted making huge profits and politicians argue for a windfall tax, can I ask why can’t these companies just lower their prices?

RONNIE STARKEY, Norwich.

A WINDFALL tax would benefit the Government’s coffers, but at the expense of shareholders. Remember that many pension plans invest in energy firms.

TONY THOMPSON, Banbury, Oxon.

SHELL and BP are multinational companies that pay significant taxes here. A windfall tax would encourage them to relocate to countries where taxation is less burdensome. Their profits are not generated through petrol or diesel pumps here, but through worldwide production and refinery.

CHRIS BAKER, address supplied.