Lew just wrong about oil and gas industry taxes

Treasury Secretary Jack Lew’s remarks today about taxes paid by the oil and natural gas industry are incorrect, said the American Petroleum Institute’s Director of Tax and Accounting Policy Stephen Comstock.

“Secretary Lew needs to get his facts straight,” said Comstock. “America’s oil and natural gas companies pay considerably more in taxes than the average manufacturing company. And we use the same kind of cost recovery deductions that are available to every other industry to reinvest money back into the economy.

“Secretary Lew says he wants to make it easier for companies to grow, invest and create good middle class jobs here in the U.S. That is exactly what America’s oil and natural gas industry does best. The ability to recover costs through ordinary tax deductions has allowed our industry to create millions of middle class jobs and make America the world’s leading energy producer.

“History has shown that the people most hurt by higher taxes that increase the cost of energy production are lower-income and middle class Americans. The oil and natural gas industry pays its fair share and provides the federal government tens of billions of dollars in revenue each year.”

Adapted from press release by Joe Green

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