UK Top Court Strikes Down Orsted’s Wind Farm Tax Relief (2)

Danish energy giant Orsted isn’t entitled to claim tax relief on spending worth £48 million ($65 million) related to the cost of studies and surveys to build offshore wind farms, the UK Supreme Court said Wednesday.

Capital allowances require “a close connection” between the expenditure and the plant to qualify as a tax relief, the court said in a unanimous ruling.

The environment studies conducted by Orsted during the planning and designing of wind farms had “only the most tangential connection with the diminishing value of the physical asset comprised in the windfarm assets,” according to the court. ...