- Greens call on government to remove datacentres from full expensing tax relief scheme to bring forward an additional £5 billion in corporation tax across 2027-2029
- They say this could be used to increase the Warm Homes Discount by up to £500 for those with highest energy needs
- Leader Polanski says the government should be prioritising lowering bills over handouts for big tech at Autumn Budget next week
The Green Party has called on the government to end certain tax reliefs for datacentres and use the money to fund support for energy bills this winter, as households are expected to see bills rise by over £271 in January – the biggest jump in four years.
The Greens say that by removing datacentres from ‘full expensing’ tax relief, the Treasury could bring forward an additional £5 billion extra in corporation tax across 2027-2029. This could be used to increase the Warm Homes Discount from £150 to up to £650 to support 5.6 million households facing a spike in their energy bills.
There are currently around 500 datacentres in the UK but their number is expected to expand by more than a third. Last week, the Chief Executive of Ofgem warned that datacentres could push up household energy bills even further.
Earlier this year the Green Party called for an immediate end to the blanket designation of new datacentres as ‘critical infrastructure’ and tighter planning rules to prevent a rash of new datacentres taking precedence over households for water and energy usage.
Green Party leader Zack Polanski said:
“Right now the government is allowing big tech giants and energy-guzzling datacentres to kick their tax obligations down the road while families are being stretched to breaking point by ever-rising energy bills.
“This is wrong. The government’s priority at the Budget next week should be supporting families this winter as temperatures drop and bills spike.
“Ending full expensing tax relief for datacentres would free up £5 billion – money that could be used to fund immediate support for households struggling with their energy bills.”
This is part of a broader package of measures the Green Party are calling for at the Autumn Budget, which they say could raise over £60 billion to fund urgent cost of living measures. The Green Party Leadership, MPs and Peers have today written to the Chancellor laying out their full proposals, which include:
- Aligning rates of Capital Gains Tax with Income Tax and closing loopholes, to raise an additional £19.7 billion annually by 2030.
- Applying National Insurance to investment income, in line with employment income, to raise at least £6.1 billion per year.
- Introducing an annual wealth tax of 1% on assets over £10 million, and 2% over £1 billion, to raise at least £14.8 billion.
- Introducing a proper windfall tax of 38% on the UK’s biggest banks, to raise at least £19 billion.
- Ending tax breaks to fossil fuel producers to raise £2.7 billion.
- Introduce a three-year emergency brake on rents and lifting the freeze on Local Housing Allowance which would cost £2 billion a year by 2030.
- Funding free bus travel for under 22s in England costing £1.9 billion a year.
- Extend free school meals to all primary and secondary school children to help with food cost inflation costing around £1.5 billion per year