CONGRESS FOR VOTERS

Ron Wyden (D-OR)

Taxing Buybacks from Big Oil Windfalls Act

S. 4588 · Senate bill Taxation

A Democratic bill with 16 Democratic cosponsors · See all 16 cosponsors

Last activity — Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.

In committee

Introduced and handed to a committee in the chamber it started in.

The committee holds it, and most bills are never heard from again. A hearing or a committee vote would be news; silence is the usual outcome, and it kills the bill without anyone voting against it.

Its path through Congress

  1. Introduced
  2. In Committee

What this bill would do

This bill, titled the "Taxing Buybacks from Big Oil Windfalls Act," aims to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. It seeks to increase the excise tax on corporate stock repurchases for specific large oil and gas companies. The tax rate for these specific corporations would increase from 1 percent to 25 percent. This applies to corporations with average annual gross receipts of at least $1,000,000,000 that are primarily engaged in oil or natural gas trades or businesses. The increased tax rate applies until a specific gasoline price requirement is met.

Yes

  • Scored +8

    Does this raise the taxes companies pay?

    The bill increases the excise tax on stock repurchases from 1 percent to 25 percent for large oil and gas corporations.

The opposite

  • Scored -5

    Would business owners be better off under this?

    The bill imposes a much higher tax rate of 25 percent on stock repurchases for large corporations in the oil and gas industry.

  • Scored -3

    Would high-income households be better off under this?

    The tax targets large corporations, which may indirectly affect the wealth concentration of high-income shareholders through reduced buyback activity.

  • Scored -2

    Does this reduce how much oil, gas and coal is produced?

    Increasing the tax on stock buybacks for oil and gas companies may discourage reinvestment in the sector, though the primary mechanism is a tax on liquidity rather than production itself.