UK Eyes an End to Data Center Tax Breaks

UK’s Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has said that from October, no new data centers can be added to the Climate Change Agreement (CCA) which grants a reduction in energy-related taxes for data centers, even though the scheme will run till 2023. The techUK body says this will distort the market, giving some players an unfair advantage, while at the same time putting the UK’s data center business at a disadvantage compared with the rest of the world, according to a late April article from Data Center Dynamics (UK Ends Data Center Energy Subsidies). 

Detractors complain the move will distort the market by making things cheaper for existing operators, and penalizing new ones; it will put UK businesses at a competitive disadvantage compared to those based outside the UK; it will discourage inward investment at a time when Brexit is already putting off long-term planning; and it “punishes” growth.