BP

BP To Cut Tax Bill By $13B But Won't Say What It's Paying IRS For 2010

Susan Crabtree | April 20, 2011, 4:54PM

An explosion at the Deepwater Horizon oil rig

BP plans to cut its overall tax bill by nearly $13 billion by writing off costs related to last year's mammoth oil spill as the Gulf Coast continues to grapple with the devastating environmental and economic costs of the disaster one year later.

The international oil giant suffered a $40.9 billion loss as a result of the oil spill, making its net losses for 2010 a total of $4.8 billion (BP had $36.1 billion in profits before factoring in the spill), according to its annual report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and analysis by several tax experts consulted by TPM.

Under U.S. corporate law, companies can take credits on up to 35 percent of their losses. In this case, that means U.S. taxpayers are indirectly subsidizing at least part of cleanup cost and the $20 billion fund BP created to compensate people, fisherman and businesses along the Gulf Coast hurt by the spill.

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NRSC

NRSC Web Video: 'Americans May Soon Bow Down To Their Chinese Overlords' (VIDEO)

Eric Kleefeld | April 15, 2010, 11:13AM

A still frame in a National Republican Senatorial Committee Web video.

The National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee has a new tongue-in-cheek Web video marking Tax Day, with a man and woman bemoaning high taxes and spending under President Obama and the Democrats in Congress -- and the coming dominance of our Chinese overlords.

"And haven't you noticed how Barack Obama keeps spending our money," the man and woman say, "which raises the national debt ceiling to the point that Americans may soon bow down to their Chinese overlords? Hahahaha."

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