Depletion-Tax Policies Need to be Strengthened

The State of Pennsylvania could reap nearly a billion dollars in additional tax revenue by implementing a natural resource depletion tax. That, according to the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, which recently completed a national survey of depletion tax policies in use in the United States.

Their study was prompted by recent sharp increases in the value of mineral resources, and recognition that the State residents who own the resources are not benefitting from their newfound wealth. Adding a depletion tax, which is paid by the company that extracts the resource, or updating an out-of-date tax structure, would increase tax revenues in Pennsylvania by $840 million dollars annually. New Mexico could enjoy another quarter billion in tax revenues by updating it’s severance tax policy, and California could balance its state budget with the $2.3 billion it would raise.

The report appears on the company’s website at www.ilsr.org

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