MADRID - Spain will extend tax cuts for consumers hit by high energy bills as well as a levy on companies deemed to have profited from high gas prices, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Wednesday.
Governments across Europe have moved to cushion the effect on consumers of gas prices that have soared amid concerns over supply disruptions after Russia, Europe's top gas supplier, invaded Ukraine.
Spain will keep value-added tax on energy bills at 10%, down from an original 21%, for a further month, until June, Sanchez said. A special tax on electricity will also stay at 0.5% rather than reverting to 7%.
Curbs will also remain on profits from renewable and nuclear energy plants the government believes benefited from selling at rates pumped higher by gas prices without having to pay for carbon emissions permits, he said.
The decree introducing these limits on corporate profits prompted an outcry from utilities and the government introduced a series of exemptions to the measure last October.
Separately, major Spanish utility Iberdrola said on Tuesday it would freeze tariffs for domestic consumers who would otherwise be exposed to swings in market prices.
