Firms using German gas, electricity price caps can pay dividends, bonuses - draft

The German government will allow companies benefiting from gas and electricity price caps to pay dividends and bonuses, a draft law seen by Reuters showed on Tuesday. The draft said a planned levy to skim off windfall profits from electricity firms should apply retroactively from Sept.

The German government will allow companies benefiting from gas and electricity price caps to pay dividends and bonuses, a draft law seen by Reuters showed on Tuesday. Companies receiving direct capital aid, however, will not be permitted to distribute dividends or bonuses, the draft, detailing the government's gas and electricity price caps, showed.

The topic will be discussed again when the bill is presented to parliament in December as there has been no agreement among the ruling coalition parties about it. The draft said a planned levy to skim off windfall profits from electricity firms should apply retroactively from Sept. 1, 2022, and last at least until June 2023 and could be extended until the end of 2024 at the latest, depending on the European Commission's review of the levy.