Markey to IRS: Tar Sands Spills Are Tax-Free???

Treasury Giving Tar Sands Free Ride into Oil Spill Response Fund; Comes on Heels of Second Enbridge Spill of Canadian Oil

WASHINGTON (July 31, 2012) – An ill-informed decision by the Internal Revenue Service saying tar sands is not actually crude oil is giving tar sands oil a free ride from paying a tax which funds an oil spill cleanup fund, even though tar sands oil has properties that cause it to be costlier when it spills, and is more corrosive, posing increased risks to pipelines during transit. Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) questioned this tax free status today in a letter sent to the Treasury Secretary Geithner asking about the exemption, especially in light of this weekend’s pipeline spill in Wisconsin by the pipeline company Enbridge, a Canadian shipper of tar sands oil into the United States.

The Democratic staff of the Natural Resources Committee released a report today on this tar sands tax loophole, entitled “Tax Free Tar Sands: New tax loophole give tar sands a free ride”. The report is available on the Natural Resources Committee Democrats’ website HERE. 

Rep. Markey’s letter to Secretary Geithner urging a reversal of IRS decision can be found HERE.