BP's $20.8-billion oil spill settlement may give it a huge tax deduction
Source: Los Angeles Times
It's to be hoped that the American taxpaying public is thrilled with the $20.8-billion settlement announced Monday between BP and the Justice Department over the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. That's because the taxpayers are likely to cover a large portion of BP's bill.
... The estimate that more than $15 billion of the final settlement will be tax deductible sounds correct to University of Michigan law professor David Uhlmann, former chief of the Justice Department's environmental crimes section. Restitution on damage claims and restoration of the damaged environment have long been designated by the IRS as deductible charges. "That makes sense," he told me. "They're business expenses."
... US PIRG estimated the total of tax-deductible elements at $15.3 billion, producing a "tax windfall" of $5.35 billion, according to PIRG's Michelle Surka.
Read more: http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-mh-bp-s-20-8-billion-oil-spill-20151005-column.html
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