On Sun, 04 Jul 2010 12:42:19 -0500, F. George McDuffee
wrote:

On Sun, 20 Jun 2010 11:17:24 -0500, F. George McDuffee
wrote:
snip
Unfortunately however, as a nation we are now far beyond
this specific incident/problem, namely a total lack of
credibility/accountability/capability of either the Federal
government or BP.
snip
More info about where your taxes are going and how you are
paying the corporations' taxes too. Note that this is an
Australian paper.

http://www.smh.com.au/business/world...0704-zvul.html

A slick argument amid the oil subsidies
DAVID KOCIENIEWSKI
July 5, 2010

WHEN the Deepwater Horizon drilling platform set off the
worst oil spill in American history, it was flying the flag
of the Marshall Islands. Registering there allowed the rig's
owner to reduce significantly its American taxes.

The owner, Transocean, moved its corporate headquarters from
Houston to the Cayman Islands in 1999 and then to
Switzerland in 2008, manoeuvres that also helped it avoid
taxes.

At the same time, BP was reaping sizeable tax benefits from
leasing the rig. According to a letter sent in June to a US
Senate committee, the company used a tax break for the oil
industry to write off 70 per cent of the rent for Deepwater
Horizon - a deduction of more than $US225,000 a day since
the lease began.
snip
But an examination of the American tax code indicates that
oil production is among the most heavily subsidised
businesses, with tax breaks available at virtually every
stage of the exploration and extraction process.

According to the most recent study by the Congressional
Budget Office, released in 2005, capital investments such as
oil field leases and drilling equipment are taxed at an
effective rate of 9 per cent, significantly lower than the
overall rate of 25 per cent for businesses in general and
lower than virtually any other industry.

==And for many small and mid-size oil companies, the tax on
capital investments is so low that it is more than
eliminated by various credits. These companies' returns on
those investments are often higher after taxes than
before.==
snip


The oil companies argument is, of course, that they are developing and
selling a product with a finite life. and the day that the first well
is drilled on a lease is the day that the value of their asset - the
oil in the ground - starts to deplete.

Rather as if tomorrow you wake up tomorrow to realize that you will
only be allowed to sell 54,000 more whatever's unless you buy a new
piece of land, erect new buildings, and built all new machines.

Granted that the oil companies have been highly adroit in talking the
government out of depletion allowances and many other safe guards ....
but then so have the dairymen, the wheat farmers , and just about
everyone else that has figured out how to do it.

Just like "same sex marriages" let some people file joint tax returns,
I suppose.


Cheers,

John D. Slocomb
(jdslocombatgmail)