Industry taxes

ExxonMobil's U.S. tax burden is already very large.

• From 2004 to 2008, our U.S. tax bill ($67.6 billion), including all forms of taxation, exceeded our U.S. earnings ($49.0 billion) by $18.6 billion.

• In 2008, ExxonMobil's worldwide tax expenses amounted to over $120 billion, equating to nearly $4,000 per second, and significantly more than twice our earnings in the same period.
• ExxonMobil's worldwide effective income tax rate for 2008 was 47 percent.
• While our worldwide profits have grown, our worldwide income taxes have grown even more. From 2004 to 2008, our earnings grew by 79 percent, but our income taxes grew by 130 percent.

Additional taxes would raise prices and reduce supplies.

• In the past, windfall profit taxes have undermined capital investments in the oil and gas industry and reduced domestic energy supplies. "Backdoor" windfall profit taxes would be no less damaging. Imposing punitive taxes on American energy companies, which already pay record taxes, would discourage the sustained investments needed to safeguard U.S. energy security.
  
• According to a Report of the Congressional Research Service, the windfall profit tax of the 1980s reduced domestic oil production as much as 6%, and increased imports as much as 16 percent.
  
• Industry projects span decades, require massive investments, and utilize cutting-edge technologies that evolve throughout project lifecycles. Under these circumstances, long-term planning — which relies on stable legal, fiscal and regulatory frameworks — is critical.