Number: RL34689
Title: Oil Industry Financial Performance and the Windfall Profits Tax
Authors: Salvatore Lazzari and Robert Pirog, Resources, Science, and Industry Division 
Abstract: This report discusses the fourth option: the windfall profit tax. The first section analyzes the major oil companies profit performance, particularly from 2003 to 2008, both in terms of earnings and how those earnings have been used. The second section is a brief legislative history of windfall profit tax proposals and legislation in both the 109th and 110th Congresses. The third section analyzes the idea of a windfall profits tax, including experiences with the tax of the 1980s, its viability, and potential role in the tax system and economy.
Pages: 21
Date: September 30, 2008