The new energy tax includes a maximum bonus of 60% for strategic investments

The new temporary tax on the main energy operators for 2025 will have a maximum bonus of 60% on the amount of the tax for those companies that make strategic investments.

Investments that are “essential” for the ecological transition and decarbonization and that, due to their magnitude, contribute to economic growth and employment, whether made in fixed or technological assets committed to industrial projects, will be considered as such. These investments can range from the production of renewable hydrogen to transforming waste into products that have a second life or into renewable gases, such as biogas.

This is stated in the Royal Decree-Law approved this Monday by the last Council of Ministers of the year and published today by the Official State Gazette (BOE) for its entry into force this Wednesday.

The text includes the Government’s commitment to “review” in fiscal year 2025 the configuration of this temporary tax to convert it into a permanent tax that “will be arranged or agreed upon” with the Basque Country and Navarra.

Specifically, as stated in the approved standard, the Government will carry out a study of the results of the tax in the last quarter of 2025 to evaluate its maintenance on a permanent basis. To do this, he explains, the situation of the affected sectors, the evolution of the prices of energy products and the cumulative effect of the tax together with the Corporate Tax will be considered.

The initial idea of ​​the Ministry of Finance was to extend the tax that was in force until December 31 of this year, a commitment it made with ERC, Bildu and BNG. But that rate was repealed last Saturday with the entry into force of the tax reform, which included a provision for that purpose that managed to succeed in the Cortes due to the support of PP, PNV and Junts.

In this scenario, the Government has taken advantage of the last Council of Ministers of the year to approve a new energy tax, which certain companies considered main operators in energy sectors will have to satisfy in the year 2025.

The tax includes two features to try to gain the support of PNV and Junts in the validation of the decree in Congress: one is that a deduction is introduced applicable when essential strategic investments are made for the ecological transition and decarbonization, something that the Executive agreed in a beginning with the Catalans; and another to convert the tax into a tax, to attract the vote of the Basques.

Like the tax on energy companies that has been repealed, the new tax taxes 1.2% of the turnover obtained in those energy companies with income exceeding 1,000 million euros, excluding regulated businesses and activities outside Spain and extra-peninsular areas.

The bonuses

The main novelty with respect to the previous tax are the bonuses that companies can apply if they make strategic investments. Specifically, the tax to be paid and, where applicable, the advance payment thereof, will be reduced “by the amount of the allocation of an unavailable reserve for carrying out strategic investments”, without the unavailable reserve provided being able to generate more than a deduction in the temporary energy tax.

These investments must be part of a strategic investment plan for the ecological transition and, to apply the tax credit, the energy companies obliged to pay this tax may request from the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge a reasoned report on whether the investments collected in the plan they meet the consideration of strategic investments.

The Ministry for the Ecological Transition must notify, within three months of receiving the request, the corresponding reasoned report. Said report will be binding on the Tax Administration. After the period of three months has elapsed without any notification, it will be understood that silence is negative.

The unavailable reserve must be accounted for and it will be understood that the amount of the investments includes the acquisition price or production cost of the assets in which the reserve is materialized, excluding interest and indirect taxes, without it being able to be higher. at its market value.

This unavailable reserve may be allocated between tomorrow, December 25, and until September 20, 2025. This reserve will appear in the balance sheets of the energy company obliged to pay or of the entity in its group, fiscal or commercial, that has allocated it. , with appropriate separation and title, and will be unavailable during the period in which the materialization of the investments it finances must be maintained.

If the amount of the investment is equal to or less than the tax to be paid, energy companies may deduct 10% of what they invest, but if they invest more than the amount of the tax that they would have to pay, the deduction can reach 30%.

In any case, there will be a limit for the deduction, which will be variable, as it will depend on the proportion between what is invested and the amount of the tax. The more you invest, the greater the deduction will be, but at most, the final bonus can reach up to 60% of the amount of the tax.

The amount of the unavailable reserve must be materialized in strategic investments within the period of application of the plan, and, in any case, they must be made within a period of two years from the accounting provision of the unavailable reserve. The materialization of the reserve will be deemed to have occurred at the moment in which the assets come into operation. The energy tax bonus will be compatible with the deductions that may be applicable in the Corporate Tax.

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The new energy tax includes a maximum bonus of 60% for strategic investments