The record profits had created controversy. The CEO of TotalEnergies, Patrick Pouyanné, announced this Thursday evening that the company should pay “corporate tax in 2023”.
Asked about LCI, the boss of the company at the heart of a vast social conflict in October explained that “this year, because of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, which has pushed up gasoline prices, our refineries will earn the money”. After three years in deficit, the company made record profits in 2022, which should logically subject it to corporation tax. What to avoid “another controversy”, he declared.
Patrick Pouyanné also insisted on the large losses of his company during the Covid-19 pandemic, which he estimates at “more than a billion euros”, recalling that no aid had been requested from the State. .
A special European contribution
In addition to corporation tax, TotalEnergies will also pay “the special European contribution that Brussels has planned, which is approximately 150 million euros,” said the company’s CEO. But faced with the scale of these compulsory levies, Patrick Pouyanné was reluctant to suffer more taxation: “Now, if every time our results are positive, they want to take all our profits, that will raise questions. on long term investment. »
“The truth is that we pay a lot of taxes, but in the countries where we produce,” said Patrick Pouyanné. He estimated that his company would pay around “30 billion euros” worldwide this year, a sum which represents “50% of the profits” of TotalEnergies, he assured.