“Beware of your electricity bills, a new tax is about to be introduced tre creéé” Taxes paid on electricity are likely to increase in a few weeks. -10% on the electricity bill! The announcement was made with great fanfare, in an unprecedented and flammable context. While France is navigating seen for weeks and that the question of purchasing power remains the number one concern of the population, the arrival of autumn and winter with the drop in temperatures is observed with apprehension by many households: the energy bill should be steep in a few months. If a promise was made to reduce the amount to be paid to Engie, TotalEnergies or others, a scam is hidden behind it. Because what was not explicitly said is that a new tax on electricity could see the light of day and would be paid by all French people. And this was not shouted under all roofs. The data is clear and precise: on an electricity bill, almost half of the amount corresponds to various taxes, more or less high depending on your consumption. A colossal share that is not about to decrease. A proposal has indeed been made to further tax households' wallets. It is obviously not presented in this way, but the end result will indeed be this. Concretely, the State wants to force EDF (the main electricity producer) to pay an additional tax on its nuclear power plants and hydroelectric dams. Expected revenue: nearly 3 billion euros per year. Except that EDF is obviously not going to pay for this out of pocket and should pass it on to consumers, without them realizing it. In a few months, the cost of electricity alone will drop significantly. The right time to discreetly increase the cost of taxes. This increase should be significant but will not prevent the overall bill from falling. A sleight of hand that is almost incognito, summarized by Fabien Choné, former boss of Direct Energie, in La Tribune: “Rather than paying much less than currently, households will pay a little less.” In what proportions ? The question has not yet been decided. Indeed, the project to create this new tax is not yet certain to succeed, but it was a path seriously studied by Gabriel Attal and Bruno Le Maire. The new Prime Minister Michel Barnier, at the head of a government that has just been formed, inherited the proposal. It remains to be seen whether the new strongman of Matignon, accompanied by the new Minister of Economy Antoine Armand, will validate it.
By Teilor Stone
Teilor Stone has been a reporter on the news desk since 2013. Before that she wrote about young adolescence and family dynamics for Styles and was the legal affairs correspondent for the Metro desk. Before joining Thesaxon , Teilor Stone worked as a staff writer at the Village Voice and a freelancer for Newsday, The Wall Street Journal, GQ and Mirabella. To get in touch, contact me through my teilor@nizhtimes.com 1-800-268-7116