Eliminate all oil and gas tax loopholes

Changes to oil and gas taxes make Obama's budget

Updated: Tuesday, March 10th, 2009 | By Angie Drobnic Holan

President Obama proposed many changes to the U.S. tax code when running for office, including eliminating oil and gas tax loopholes.

When he unveiled his first budget outline on Feb. 26, 2009, he included a number of measures that would revoke tax advantages for oil companies.

The budget outline calls for nine different measures under the category "Eliminate oil and gas company preferences." Among other things, the outline says the Obama administration will "levy excise tax on Gulf of Mexico oil and gas (limits excess royalty relief)," "repeal enhanced oil recovery credit," "repeal marginal well tax credit," "repeal expensing of intangible drilling costs," and "repeal deduction for tertiary injectants."

The Obama administration estimates that over 10 years, the changes would generate $30 billion in additional revenue. (That sounds like a lot, but it's a small amount compared with Obama's $400 "Making Work Pay" tax credit for workers, which will cost $536 billion over 10 years.)

Obama's budget still needs to get through Congress. We also weren't able to tell from the outline whether these measures would affect foreign tax credit benefits for oil companies, though it does specifically mention repealing the manufacturing tax deduction and expensing rules. The Obama administration plans to release more budget details in April 2009. For now, we rate this promise In the Works.

Sources: Office of Budget and Management, Budget Documents for Fiscal Year 2010 , Feb. 26, 2009

Office of Budget and Management, Summary Tables , Table S-6, page 122, Feb. 26, 2009