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 inflammatory context. While France has been navigating blindly for weeks and 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 trick 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 from the rooftops.
The data is clear and straightforward: 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 squeeze households’ wallets a little more. 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 tax rate. This increase should be significant but will not prevent the overall bill from falling.
An almost incognito sleight of hand, summed up 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, has inherited the proposal. It remains to be seen whether the new strongman of Matignon, accompanied by the new Minister of the Economy Antoine Armand, will validate it.