[actionfromafar]

The idea with this temporary relief was to help home-owners keep their homes warm during the first winter of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Many mechanisms could have worked for this purpose. A fixed amount for instance. Or an upper limit on a tax cut. Remember, the idea was to keep a typical home warm.

Instead there was a tax cut with no upper limit. So the affluent heating outdoor pools in the middle of winter also got relief, not just home-owners on the brink of ruin trying to heat their old house. In the big scheme of things, probably not a big deal, but interventions by the state should appear (and be) as fair as possible, lest people will loose faith in the system.

[ftrobro]

If the only idea was to help home-owners keep their homes warm then companies would not have gotten the same tax returns. This page lists the reason for the tax returns as "För att stödja elkunderna ekonomiskt och för att mildra effekterna av de höga elpriserna har EU infört en tillfällig möjlighet att använda de så kallade flaskhalsintäkterna för ekonomiska utbetalningar till elkunderna.". So general stimulation of the economy seems to also have been part of the reason for the tax returns.

https://www.regeringen.se/regeringens-politik/energikrisen/e...