July 27, 2010
State and Federal Tax Collections on Oil Industry Exceed Oil Industry Profits
full study online at http://www.taxfoundation.org/publications/show/26555.html
Washington, D.C., July 27, 2010 - With Members of Congress calling for punitive new tax laws against U.S. oil and gas companies in response to the BP oil spill, the Tax Foundation has released a new analysis showing federal, state and local taxes remitted by the oil companies have exceeded their corporate profits by 40 percent.
"Governments at all levels in the U.S. and abroad are dependent on the substantial taxes paid by oil and gas firms," said Tax Foundation President Scott A. Hodge, author of the new Tax Foundation Special Report, "Oil Industry Taxes: A Cash Cow for Government."
The new study, available at www.taxfoundation.org/publications/show/26555.html, shows that in recent decades, state and federal governments have "profited" far more from the oil industry than companies have.
"Governments have collected $1.95 trillion in taxes from the oil industry since 1981," said Hodge. "That's far more than the profits of major U.S. oil companies during the same period."
"As lawmakers respond to the Gulf oil spill and BP's poor safety record, they should refrain from undoing sound, principled tax policies such as the foreign tax credit that benefit every individual or corporate taxpayer that earns taxable income outside the U.S.," said Hodge.
The Tax Foundation is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that has monitored fiscal policy at the federal, state and local levels since 1937.
Tax Foundation Special Report, No. 183, "Oil Industry Taxes: A Cash Cow for Government," is available at www.taxfoundation.org/publications/show/26555.html.
The Tax Foundation is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that has monitored fiscal policy at the federal, state and local levels since 1937.
To schedule an interview, please contact Natasha Altamirano, the Tax Foundation's Manager of Media Relations, at (202) 464-5102 or naltamirano@taxfoundation.org.