BP Getting $13 Billion Tax Break? {TAKE ACTION}
April 24th, 2011 by Zachary Shahan
Last Wednesday, it was determined that BP would be getting $13 billion in tax credits. It is not clear if BP is even going to pay any taxes at all or if it will actually get money from the government after this. Why is BP getting so much money? Because of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico….
Yeah, that’s right, BP got to write off its losses from the oil spill. Residents and animals are suffering (if they haven’t already suffered and died) from this unprecedented disaster, the country is struggling, and BP gets to skip tax season because it’s own mistake caused it to lose money.
$13 billion is hard to even comprehend. But let’s put it this way: it’s about equal to the EPA’s annual budget, which just got slashed considerably by a Tea-Party-wacky Congress, and it’s equal to about 1/3 of the total budget cuts our government has put forward for 2011.
Now, though, one of my favorite sites, CREDO Action, is pushing BP to take responsibility for its mess and not write it off. You can sign it’s petition here. Here’s a more from CREDO on this story:
Americans shouldn’t have to endure massive budget cuts because BP took a $10 billion tax deduction for destroying our gulf. Tell BP: Amend your tax return and pay your fair share.
….there is an excellent precedent that says BP did not have to deduct these costs for tax advantages. Last year, Goldman Sachs waived a tax deduction it could have claimed as a result of paying $500 million in fines to the Securities and Exchange Commission for giving bad information to mortgage investors.4
BP has cost our nation enough already. It shouldn’t be rewarding itself with huge tax savings.
BP’s $10 billion tax credit slashes its liability by one third – at every US taxpayer’s expense. Tell BP to amend their tax return and pay their fair share.
Check out CREDO’s full piece on this and sign it’s petition.
Image via ▲Bonard▼
Related Stories:
- Gulf Residents Trek 1,200 Miles on Foot to D.C. to Ask for More Action on BP Oil Spill
- NASA: Toxic Dispersants Did Rain on Gulf Coast from BP Oil Spill “Cleanup”
- More BP Oil Spill Reflections: Could Another Similar Disaster Happen? “Absolutely”
- Offshore Oil Drilling after Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill — No New Safeguards, GOP Push for Less Oversight
- First Independent Study of Oil Spill Confirms Disaster
- Oil Spill Activists Targeted by TSA Agents
Keep up to date with all the most interesting green news on the planet by subscribing to our (free) Planetsave newsletter.
About the Author
Zachary Shahan is the director of CleanTechnica, the most popular cleantech-focused website in the world, and Planetsave, a world-leading green and science news site. He has been covering green news of various sorts since 2008, and he has been especially focused on solar energy, electric vehicles, and wind energy since 2009. Aside from his work on CleanTechnica and Planetsave, he's the founder and director of Solar Love, EV Obsession, and Bikocity. To connect with Zach on some of your favorite social networks, go to ZacharyShahan.com and click on the relevant buttons.
Related Posts
GW Bush’s Republican EPA Head Blasts Fox On Climate Change →
The Nefarious Connection Between Agriculture and Our Rivers (Part 3 of 4) →
The Nefarious Connection Between Agriculture and Our Rivers (Part 2 of 4) →
Pingback: How to “Use the Force” to lower gas prices - The Fun Times Guide to Living Green
Pingback: President Obama’s Jobs Speech (Full Text & Video from White House + Commentary) | CleanTechnica
Pingback: BP, Under Criminal Investigation & Violating Its Probation, Still Gets Multi-Million Dollar Government Contracts – Planetsave.com: climate change and environmental news