Is It Time to Tax the Oil and Gas Industry’s Windfall? The war in Iran has meant big profits for fossil fuel companies, prompting some lawmakers to call for a tax. But that would be easier said than done.

> Instead of taxing local income, which companies can often shift, countries might opt to tax energy companies based on their domestic sales or refining volume.
In the U.S., there are more straightforward ways to force the fossil fuel industry to pay more than imposing a new windfall tax. As the Congressional Research Service pointed out in a 2022 report, lawmakers could simply revoke some of the many industry-specific subsidies that lower companies’ annual tax bills.

>…After the 2022 Russia-Ukraine fuel crisis resulted in record profits for fossil fuel companies, the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans reaped about half of the benefits globally, recent research has found.