New oil tax being proposed

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Senators Sheldon Whitehouse and Elizabeth Warren say they’re working on a proposed new tax targeting profits being reaped by oil companies as crude prices spike amid geopolitical tensions.

“Big Oil’s first priority is to maximize profits,” Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, tweeted on Wednesday. “We can’t let them use Putin’s invasion as an excuse to pad their bottom line with war-fueled profits,” she said, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. “So I’m working with Senate Democrats on a windfall-profits tax.”

The plan will require oil companies that produce or import at least 300,000 barrels of oil per day to pay a per-barrel tax equal to 50% of the difference between the current price of a barrel and the average price from the years 2015 to 2019, a period in which energy companies were recording large profits, according to a statement from Whitehouse’s office. Smaller oil companies will be exempt from the quarterly tax, so that large companies like Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp., cannot raise prices without the threat of losing market share, according to the statement.

The revenue raised from the tax would be sent to individuals quarterly. The payments would phase out for individuals earning more than $75,000 or couples earning $150,000. Whitehouse, a Rhode Island Democrat, estimates that single filers would receive approximately $240 a year, and joint filers would get about $360.

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