Medium and larger businesses have been left appalled by a £1bn a year “stealth” tax that will see business electricity and gas bills increase by 11 per cent.
Details of the tax were not announced in George Osborne’s spending cuts speech, but were contained in Treasury documents that showed how money will be raised to pay the deficit.
From April 2012, the Treasury will collect money from all businesses in the Carbon Reduction Commitment Scheme.
Where previously companies that managed to substantially reduce carbon emissions would have received rebates on the carbon allowances they have to buy, now all companies in the scheme will have to pay depending on how much carbon dioxide they produce.
In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Energy Minister Charles Hendry claimed the changes were being brought in to simplify the scheme, which had previously been condemned as too complex.
But business owners were unimpressed, and unconvinced, by this argument. Stephen Robertson, director-general of the British Retail Consortium, told The Telegraph: “We are surprised and dismayed that the ÂŁ1bn per year participating businesses will put in to the Carbon Reduction Commitment scheme is no longer to be recycled to participants but is instead to be pocketed by the Exchequer.”
PriceWaterhouseCooper report that these changes will cost businesses with an average ÂŁ1m bill for their business electricity and gas ÂŁ76,000 in the first year and ÂŁ114,000 by 2015.
Business leaders were also irritated that this rise in business electricity and gas bills, which will have a large impact on many companies, was not included in the Chancellor’s main speech.
For advice on how to save money and find the best contracts for business electricity and business gas, contact Energy Advice Line.
Read the full story in The Daily Telegraph.
Tags: Business Electricity
