OIL TAX BREAK RIDICULED BY U.S. HOUSE TAXWRITER
A House taxwriter said Energy
Secretary James Herrington's "outrageous" plan to restore an old
tax break for oil companies was both bad tax and energy policy.
    Rep. Pete Stark, a California Democrat and senior House
Ways and Means Committee member, said Herrington's plan for a
27.5 pct depletion allowance--which in effect is a special 27.5
pct tax deduction --would cost seven billion dlrs a year.
    "He must have missed the last two years of federal tax
reform by sleeping as soundly as Rip Van Winkle," Stark said.
    He said in a statement the oil industry already pays an
effective lower rate of U.S. tax on investment, 15 pct versus
aggregate corporate tax on all investment of 34 pct, according
to a recent Congressional Research Service study.
 Reuter
