Oil companies in Orinoco will pay 50% income tax
CARACAS
The Venezuelan government will raise income taxes from 34 percent to 50 percent for oil companies operating along the Orinoco River, Venezuela’s oil minister said Tuesday.
“There is no doubt that the oil companies in the Orinoco belt have to pay a 50 percent income tax; a reform of the existing law is justified,” said Oil Minister Rafael Ramírez.
José Joaquín Cedillo, of the Seniat tax agency, said earlier Tuesday the government was also considering a tax increase on natural gas businesses operating in this oil-rich South American country.
“So far there are two proposals, to increase the Orinoco tax to 50 percent or leave it at 34 percent,” Cedillo said. “For (natural) gas we also have a 50 percent tax scenario, among other possibilities.”
France’s Total SA, Norway’s Statoil ASA, Chevron Corp., ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil Corp., and British Petroleum PLC operate in the region along with Venezuela’s state-run oil company Petróleos de Vene-zuela S.A.
Total SA has agreed to pay part of its overdue tax bill this week, Venezuela’s tax agency said Tuesday after threatening the French oil company with fines, temporary office closures and property seizures if it did not settle its bill within 24 hours.
Total owes the government some $107.4 million in unpaid taxes from 2001 through 2004, including accumulated interest, said Aldolfo Gregermann, a tax agency spokesman.
Officials previously have estimated the bill at $99 million.
Officials did not say how much Total had agreed to pay, and company executives declined comment. Tax agency chief José Vielma Mora said Total could make the payment on Thursday.
Cedillo said the tax review would look into how the companies calculate their gains from overseas oil sales and the costs they incur in the production process.
The administration of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has accused foreign oil companies of exploiting his country’s vast petroleum reserves without paying sufficient taxes and has taken steps to increase revenues from the industry.
The Venezuelan government will raise income taxes from 34 percent to 50 percent for oil companies operating along the Orinoco River, Venezuela’s oil minister said Tuesday.
“There is no doubt that the oil companies in the Orinoco belt have to pay a 50 percent income tax; a reform of the existing law is justified,” said Oil Minister Rafael Ramírez.
José Joaquín Cedillo, of the Seniat tax agency, said earlier Tuesday the government was also considering a tax increase on natural gas businesses operating in this oil-rich South American country.
“So far there are two proposals, to increase the Orinoco tax to 50 percent or leave it at 34 percent,” Cedillo said. “For (natural) gas we also have a 50 percent tax scenario, among other possibilities.”
France’s Total SA, Norway’s Statoil ASA, Chevron Corp., ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil Corp., and British Petroleum PLC operate in the region along with Venezuela’s state-run oil company Petróleos de Vene-zuela S.A.
Total SA has agreed to pay part of its overdue tax bill this week, Venezuela’s tax agency said Tuesday after threatening the French oil company with fines, temporary office closures and property seizures if it did not settle its bill within 24 hours.
Total owes the government some $107.4 million in unpaid taxes from 2001 through 2004, including accumulated interest, said Aldolfo Gregermann, a tax agency spokesman.
Officials previously have estimated the bill at $99 million.
Officials did not say how much Total had agreed to pay, and company executives declined comment. Tax agency chief José Vielma Mora said Total could make the payment on Thursday.
Cedillo said the tax review would look into how the companies calculate their gains from overseas oil sales and the costs they incur in the production process.
The administration of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has accused foreign oil companies of exploiting his country’s vast petroleum reserves without paying sufficient taxes and has taken steps to increase revenues from the industry.
posted by Alice at
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
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