Monday, December 20, 2010

BP (NYSE:BP) Wins Part of Bizarre Alaskan Government Case

In a bizarre attempt by the State of Alaska to extract phantom taxes from BP (NYSE:BP), they were slapped down by Superior Court Judge Peter Michalski of Anchorage, who said BP couldn't owe them taxes on a non-event.

Michalski said in his ruling, “Taxes become due upon the occurrence of a taxable event. In order to sustain a claim for lost tax damages, it is necessary for the State to allege that a taxable event occurred. Here, there has been no taxable event, and therefore BPXA cannot owe taxes.”

This is in reference to claims by the state of Alaska concerning alleged lost tax revenue because of production shortfalls when BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. had to cut back production in response to oil spills and resultant maintenance on the North Slope.

Judge Michalski, added, “the Court is not persuaded by the State’s argument that ‘lost taxes’ are compensable in an identical manner as any other standard lost future benefit such as lost wages. The State collects taxes in its role as a sovereign, and this civil suit arises out of the State’s role as lessor and landowner and the State’s police powers. As expressed earlier, no taxable event has occurred, and such an event is a necessary predicate.”

If this had been allowed to stand, it would have given the state of Alaska unimaginable powers that could decide if the production of any company in the state is up to what they believe it should be. If it wasn't, they may have been able to apply tax rates arbitrarily to fill their coffers.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Only the petty Statist bureaucrat mindset could even conceive of something like this in the first place.

I bet the person who is most behind this action evolved from one of the lesser forms that is all about installing red-light cameras "for safety."