Lhe director general of Shell telephoned the deputy Manuel Bompard (La France insoumise), during the weekend of 1er and October 2? While the latter is fighting to impose a tax on superprofits in France, Ben van Beurden, the boss of the first European oil company, put his feet in the dish, during a conference on energy, in London, Tuesday 4 october. Responding to a question, he said that, “one way or another, there needs to be government intervention that translates into (…) by protecting the poorest, and that probably means governments have to tax the people in this room.”
In other words, these devils of French anti-capitalist deputies are no longer the only ones to carry this subject. This is why Europe is mobilizing, suggesting a form of taxation on the profits made by the sale of fossil fuels. But the subject goes beyond that and results from the collision between a year 2021 and the start of 2022, both of which are exceptional for many companies, and an explosion in prices that is eating away at the purchasing power of consumers, especially the most modest. With obvious bridges between these two phenomena, when the profits of some feed on the shortage of others, which mechanically drives up prices.
A double-edged weapon
As Olivier Passet, the economist of the Xerfi institute, reminds us, two-thirds of the companies in the CAC 40 posted, in 2021, the largest profits in their history. And they made further progress in the first half. Therefore, it seems natural, in the difficult situation in which we are entering, to put them to work. The idea is appealing and therefore makes companies uncomfortable.
They remind us that the State is also already a beneficiary of this situation. The French Association of Private Companies claims that its hundred members, i.e. the largest French companies, paid 13 billion euros in tax on profits for 2021, out of a total of 59 billion levied by France. State on all companies. That is more than their share in the economy, most of their profits being made outside France.
Profit is essential to finance investment, create jobs and return part of it to shareholders, employees and consumers. Excessive taxation is a double-edged sword, as it deters development, undermines competitiveness and encourages offshoring, which ultimately reduces tax revenue. But it would be paradoxical and shocking to see companies enrich themselves considerably from a manna that fell from the sky, which not only required no effort from them, but was built up on the backs of the rest of society. Which would ultimately turn out to be suicidal.