Dan Bross, KUAC – Fairbanks
Data released from the State Department of Revenue shows Alaska’s oil tax climate is more competitive than it’s been represented to be by proponents of industry tax breaks. Fairbanks State Senator Joe Paskvan, a Democrat, presented information on the Senate floor Tuesday that factors in the value of state tax credits to oil companies. Paskvan, who co-chairs the Senate Resources Committee, says the industry significantly benefits from the credits.
Paskvan says the credits, which include deductions against an oil company’s tax liability and cash payments to incentivize specific exploration and development, reduce the effective overall tax burden.
Paskvan says the tax rate on gross revenue is 12 to 18 percent when oil is between 75 to 95 dollars a barrel, not the 70 plus percent rates purported by supporters of tax breaks. He says he’s requested additional data to help understand the tax picture above $95 a barrel and below $75 a barrel. He says the latest information shows the complexity of the taxation and the need to better understand the math before making any changes to the system.
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