When I extensively study the financial statements and footnotes of US Big Oil & Gas Corps and their related Corps, I find it amazing at how little Big Oil pays in both US Federal Income Tax and US State Income Tax on their Worldwide Income, in comparison to every other US Sector.
US Big Oil has severely damaged the US economy, with the resultant US job losses, by greedily charging such sky-high energy prices on both US businesses and US individuals, while substantially increasing their Pretax Profits, which increased 48% in the first half of 2011, on back of an even higher % increase in Pretax Profits in 2010.
And with its awesome power over the US Congress, US Big Oil piles on by paying such meager amounts of US Federal Income Taxes.
In fact, in 2010, the 42 largest US Big Oil Corps paid in Total US Federal Income Taxes (US Current Federal Income Tax Paid or Payable in 2010) of $7,010 mil, which in comparison to its 2010 Worldwide Pretax Income of $168,673 mil, yielded an effective US Federal Income Tax Rate Paid of an incredibly meager 4.2%.
I bet company employees all over the US would love to go to their Company Human Resources Departments and ask if they can fill out the forms necessary so that they would be able to be income taxed like a US Big Oil Corp.
Here are the individual US Big Oil Corps' Current Federal Income Tax Paid or Payable in 2010, their Consolidated Pretax Income(PTI), and their related effective US Federal Income Tax Rate Paid.
...............................Current US........................Effective
.................................Fed Inc....Consolidated...Tax Rate
................................Tax Paid...........PTI............Paid
..................................2010............2010...........2010
......................................(million of $s).....
Big Oil & Gas
Exxon Mobil..............1,270..........52,959...........2.4%
Chevron.....................1,501..........32,055...........4.7%
ConocoPhillips...........1,312..........19,750...........6.6%
Occidental Petroleum....614...........7,359............8.3%
Apache...........................25...........5,206............0.5%
Schlumberger.................76...........5,156............1.5%
Marathon Oil.................183...........5,122............3.6%
Devon Energy...............244...........3,568............6.8%
Hess..............................151............3,311............4.6%
Chesapeake Energy...........0............2,884...........0.0%
Halliburton..................(400)..........2,655.........-15.1%
Natl Oilwell Varco..........421...........2,397..........17.6%
Transocean, Ltd.............456...........2,309..........19.7%
Anadarko Petroleum......305...........1,641..........18.6%
Valero Energy................(75)..........1,498..........-5.0%
Murphy Oil.....................105...........1,414...........7.4%
Diamond Offshore...........184...........1,336..........13.8%
El Paso Corp.....................(4)...........1,310..........-0.3%
Baker Hughes.................179...........1,282..........14.0%
EOG Resources.................17...........1,151............1.5%
Spectra Energy...............105...........1,123...........9.3%
Noble Energy....................25...........1,031...........2.4%
Southwestern Energy........10.............995............1.0%
Noble Corp........................81.............917...........8.8%
Cimarex Energy................43.............914...........4.7%
Newfield Exploration.........(1)............829..........-0.1%
Pioneer Natural Res............0.............788...........0.0%
OneOk................................59............755...........7.8%
Williams Companies...........81.............746..........10.9%
Cameron Intl....................103............733..........14.1%
Ultra Petroleum.................22.............723...........3.0%
EXCO Resources...................1.............674...........0.1%
Ensco Intl..........................10.............645...........1.6%
FMC Technologies..............21.............538...........3.9%
Denbury Resources............16.............479...........3.3%
QEP Resources..................(17)............453..........-3.8%
Helmerich & Payne.............31.............438...........7.1%
Rowan Companies..............25.............379...........6.6%
Southern Union....................2.............350...........0.6%
Nabors Industries...........(138)............343.........-40.2%
Pride Intl..............................1.............252...........0.4%
Weatherford Intl................(34)...........205.........-16.6%
Total all 42.....................7,010.....168,673..........4.2%
And that above 4.2% tax rate is a bit overstated because 7 of the above Corps (Chesapeake Energy, Baker Hughes, Weatherford Intl, Noble Corp, Ensco Intl, Ultra Petroleum, Pride Intl, and Transocean, Ltd) combined their US State Income Tax Paid with their US Federal Income Tax Paid. Also, Transocean even combined its US and Foreign Income Taxes Paid together as one number.
And it's not just a 2010 thing. For the most recent 3 years combined, such effective US Federal Income Tax Rate Paid by these 42 US Big Oil Corps was a meager 4.9%.
Anyway, my proposal here is that all US Big Oil Corps should pay in US Federal Income Tax each year at least an amount equal to 10% of their Worldwide Pretax Income. That's not too much to ask, particularly in these horrible economic times, not just for US citizens and small businesses, but also for the US Debt Status.
When I run the detailed numbers on these 42 US Big Oil Corps, and use a conservative 10% average annual profit growth from 2012 to 2021, I get additional US Federal Income Tax Receipts over the 10 years from 2012 to 2021 of $273.5 bil.
And if I use a 15% minimum Federal Income Tax Rate, rather than a 10% minimum tax rate, I get positive CBO scoring of $480.5 bil over the 10 years from 2012 to 2021.
Perhaps the best way to go on a minimum tax on US Big Oil would be to apply a 10% minimum US Federal Income Tax on the first $10 bil of annual Worldwide Pretax Income, then a 15% minimum tax on any annual Worldwide Pretax Income in excess of $10 bil and up to $20 bil, and then a 20% minimum tax on any annual Worldwide Pretax Income in excess of $20 bil.
All of the tax receipts here should be used to reduce the US Debt.
