The Socialist 8 January 2020

Climate change. Poverty. War. Capitalism must go - fight for socialism

Suleimani's assassination - Middle East thrown into turmoil

Trump attacks Iran - London protest: We need workers' action against war and austerity

Build union resistance to Tory attacks

Defend the right to strike

Defend the right to strike! - RMT and NSSN lobby parliament

2020: Class struggles and capitalist instability will intensify

Labour leadership election

Capitalism must go - fight for socialism

Trouble ahead for Johnson: Brexit is far from 'done'

Tory minimum wage hike not enough

Northern Rail franchise in question: nationalise the railways!

Children need intensive care? We don't care!

Shell pays £0 corporation tax, and plans huge hike in fossil output

Ignore the hype - austerity goes on: organise to resist

International wave of revolt continues

What next after the general election, for PCS and the left

Council concedes to striking winter gritters' demands

West Midlands RMT guards jobs saved

All we want for Christmas is a no-strings pay rise

Anti-academy strike action in Newham

Socialist Party members out on the streets

£50,240 - a new fighting fund record

Avenue of trees saved!

Students 2 : 0 Tories

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Link to this page: https://www.socialistparty.org.uk/issue/1068/30079

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Shell pays £0 corporation tax, and plans huge hike in fossil output

Nationalise the energy companies!

Shell, photo CEphoto, Uwe Aranas/CC (Click to enlarge)

Michael Johnson, Leeds Socialist Party

Faced with increasing scrutiny worldwide, oil giant Shell has revealed it paid no UK corporation tax in 2018. This is despite Shell also earning nearly £557 million in pre-tax profits in the UK over that year, with global pre-tax profits being $35.6 billion.

This has come about due to Shell receiving huge tax refunds for decommissioning its North Sea oil platforms. To help balance the expenses of plugging and abandoning their (highly profitable) oil wells and removing their equipment, the government lets energy companies deduct costs from their taxable profits or claim back tax they had previously paid!

Shell also reported that more than two-fifths of its profits in the UK come from joint ventures overseas, and so claims to have paid tax on these in other countries. The firm's tax arrangements including dodging taxes via offshore trusts, and even moving its headquarters from London to The Hague, where it has also failed to pay corporation tax.

And despite claims that Shell would be using its profits to invest in becoming world's biggest clean energy company, this has failed to materialise. Instead, Shell plans to increase its fossil fuel output by 38% this decade, according to analysts at Rystad Energy!

Past Tory governments have promised to 'get tough' on tax avoidance, but unsurprisingly this hasn't been delivered. Instead, despite massive profits, it has fallen on the general public to cover the costs of decommissioning.

The National Audit Office has warned this could cost taxpayers £24 billion as reserves in the North Sea run dry. Indeed, Stuart McWilliam, campaign manager at Global Witness, said "the fact that Shell and other major oil companies are regularly getting huge tax rebates, despite making vast profits, is a feature that is now baked into the UK oil and gas tax system."

So profiteers like Shell use up natural resources, pollute the planet, make massive money gains, then stick us with the bill - all while refusing to pay any tax! We need nationalisation.

All of the oil and energy companies should be brought into public ownership. They should be run under democratic workers' control and management, as part of a socialist plan of green energy production. Only then we could guarantee an efficient, affordable, ecological service.

In this issue

Iran

Suleimani's assassination - Middle East thrown into turmoil