The CEO of TotalEnergie indicated that he wanted to play “transparency” when he was heard by the deputies of the “flash mission” which concerns “the oil and gas companies and those in the maritime transport sector which have generated exceptional profits during crisis “.
According to Patrick Pouyanné, TotalEnergies will pay 30 billion dollars in taxes and levies on production worldwide in 2022. For France, the oil group pays between “1.6 and 1.9 billion euros per year to the budget French in various taxes contributions or deductions at source,” he explained.
Refining activities in France
Asked about the much lower level of his tax and social security contributions paid in France, the group’s boss replied that most of his oil and gas production activities were abroad. “In France, the activities we have are not oil and gas rent activities but refining,” he said. However, this activity has “lost money”.
In addition, he recalled that his group paid taxes in accordance with the “principle of territoriality” which states that “the same profit cannot be taxed twice”. And to specify: “We make profits in most countries where we produce oil and gas, these taxes are deducted from the French tax base”.
The announcement this summer of the French major’s huge profits, which more than doubled in the second quarter to $5.7 billion, thanks to the rise in gas and oil prices, reignited the debate on the taxation of these ” super profits”. On this subject, the French government hopes to find a solution at European level rather than at national level.