37. Income taxes
The tax expense was as follows:
| In millions of euros | 2024 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| Corporate income tax for the financial year | 29.2 | 56.1 |
| Corporate income tax for the previous financial years | 2.0 | 0.5 |
| Movement in deferred taxation | -19.1 | 55.8 |
| Total tax expense | 12.1 | 112.4 |
In 2024, € 1.2 million in taxes was directly recognised in other comprehensive income (2023: € 2.4 million negative). This concerned the tax effect of the actuarial adjustments of the German defined benefit pension plan, which we also took directly to other comprehensive income. We provide more information on this tax effect in note 22 ‘Employee benefits’.
The effective tax rate was as follows:
| In percentages | 2024 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| Applicable tax rate in the Netherlands | 25.8% | 25.8% |
| Effect of tax rates in other countries | 1.6% | 1.3% |
| Effect participation exemption | -11.6% | -5.4% |
| Effect of corporate income tax rate change on deferred taxation | 1.9% | - |
| Effect of innovation box and EIA | -7.0% | -2.5% |
| Prior-year adjustments | 3.2% | -1.1% |
| Other differences | 0.8% | 0.8% |
| Effective rate | 14.7% | 18.9% |
The effective tax rate in 2024 was lower than the nominal tax rate. Gasunie is investing substantial amounts in the energy transition. A number of the investments qualify for generally available tax incentives, such as the energy investment allowance. Due to the size of our investments, these tax incentives have a significant impact on the effective tax burden. Additionally, due to the substantially lower result before taxation compared to 2023, the various effects, with a more or less unchanged absolute size, have a greater impact in terms of percentage. The other differences concerned various non-deductible amounts in the Netherlands and Germany.
The tax expenses for 2024 do not include taxes relating to levies resulting from the introduction of the Pillar Two framework. Based on the Pillar Two provisions, we estimate that we can apply the CbCR Safe Harbour rule over 2024. Our most recent analysis shows that we meet the de minimis test, the CbCR ETR test and/or the routine profit test in all jurisdictions, which would mean that for 2024 no additional tax will be imposed under the Pillar Two legislation.