BP Getting $13 Billion Tax Break? {TAKE ACTION}

bp not paying taxes because of oil spill

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▼

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12 thoughts on “BP Getting $13 Billion Tax Break? {TAKE ACTION}”

  1. These types of petitions drive me nuts.

    “You’ll receive periodic updates on offers and activism opportunities from CREDO and USAction/TrueMajority.”

    Unlike your website, Credo’s does not promise to keep my information private and they assure me I will be spammed without any choice. Thank you for trying, but their website seems like just a way to bring in traffic.

    Also – if people are really upset about this, hold Obama accountable. Until he fires Ken Salazar, wildlife will continue to be the victim of special interests.

  2. Unfortunately the petition only appears to be open to those in the US; are you aware of a petition that could be signed by those outside the US, as quite a lot of people in the UK would like to make their displeasure with BP known.

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