The Corrib gas field’s operator is pursuing a legal challenge to the Government’s windfall tax on energy.
As the Irish Independent reports, owner Vermilion Energy is arguing that it has not made any profit from the Corrib field, although revenues in 2022 were higher than previous years.
The case is before the Commercial Court.
“These significant and ongoing financial losses have not been taken into account by the State when applying the recent Temporary Solidarity Contributory Tax, as would normally be the case under prudent tax law,”Vermilion told the newspaper.
The temporary solidarity contribution on windfall gains was initiated at the European level after war broke out in Ukraine in 2022, pushing up energy prices.
Vermilion says that Ireland is an “outlier” in Europe in having set a tax rate of 75 percent, which it claims is more than double the European Council recommended minimum rate of 33 percent.
It says only Slovenia has imposed a higher rate, at 80pc
The idea of levying a tax on the sector Europe-wide has already been challenged in the courts by ExxonMobil. It lodged a case late last year with the EU General Court opposing the regulation that allowed national parliaments to impose the tax.
Read more in The Irish Independent here