CENTURY 21, A & W REALTY, INC., Tulsa, Okla., May 23, 1980. Re: S. 2521 Mr. MICHAEL STERN, Senate Committee on Finance, 2227 Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. Dear Mr. SterN : Thank you for your Mailgram of the 20th of May, 1980 advising me to submit my written statement for consideration in regard to the above mentioned legislation. My statement is made on behalf of my mother, who outside of Social Security and her savings, has to depend on oil royalties for her support. All her royalties are old oil or stripper oil that have been hit the hardest by the Windfall Profits Tax. I feel that it is very unfair and possibly unconstitutional for one or two groups to be singled out to be taxed to these extremes. What the Windfall Profits Tax has effectively done is to cut my mother's income by 60 percent. This is not conserving energy or taxing the profits of the oil companies, it is taking food out of the mouths of the people of the United States that have mineral rights that produce the fuel of the Nation. Thank you for allowing me to express my views and support for Senate Bill 2521. Sincerely, Senator ROBERT DOLE, JAMES R. ADELMAN, President. DEAR SENATOR: The new so called "WINDFALL" tax on oil will deal a terrific blow to small producers and all the royalty owners. Many stripper wells will be plugged that will no longer be economical feasible to operate and many more scheduled for opening will not be. Speaking from a personal point of view as a small producer, this tax is unfair and will force a change in my operations. My wells are classified as stripper, producing 1⁄4 to 1⁄2 barrels each day per well. Equipment costs and repair labor has gone out of sight, making it very difficult to make a profit. With the new "PROFITS" tax, the cost of operations vs income is marginal at best, with the prospects of drilling more wells or purchasing equipment for other old wells is out of the question. The energy shortage is definitely not being helped by this new tax. In reality, an adverse effect will be the end result and will add to our energy problems. Your assistance, in obtaining relief from the tax for both royalty owners and small independent producers is requested. Thanks for your understanding and help. Yours truly, HOWARD HEUSTON. BARTLESVILLE, OKLA., May 15, 1980. Hon. DAVID BOREN, Washington, D.C. DEAR SENATOR BOREN: I have just received information that you will be in Great Bend, Kansas on May 23 along with Senator Dole. Unfortunately we will not be able to attend, but a good friend of mine has offered to give you this note. It is hoped that with the help from you and Senator Dole that something can be done about the windfall profit tax that was recently imposed on royalty owners like myself and independent owners. My last check was $192.00 net, windfall profit tax $102.00. We have only one (1) well on our property, very small production about 2.5 barrels a day, so you can see this tax will cause landowners like myself to close down their operations as it is hardly worth the wear and tear on our land. Sincerely yours, 68-742 0 - 80 16 J. L. EVANS. Mr. MICHAEL STERN, Staff Director, Committee on Finance, WELLSVILLE, KANS., June 4, 1980. Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. DEAR MR. STERN: As it was impossible for me to attend the hearings on exempting small royalty owners from the windfall profits tax held May 23rd at Great Bend, I would like to present my opinion on the matter in the following statement to the Subcommittee. We own a farm on which there is an oil lease, falling in the category of stripper wells. It seems quite unfair that we are being taxed at the same rate as the huge oil companies, when the tax was originally meant to be only on the oil giants. We have been approached by an oil producer to lease some more of our land for drilling; however, with a 34% tax on the total oil produced, we would not consider leasing any more land. It seems the tax is actually preventing additional drilling. We are in full support of Senate Bill 2521. Sincerely, U.S. SENATE COMMITTEE ON FINANCE, ROBERT PERKINS. CHAMPAIGN, ILL., May 30, 1980. SUBCOMMITTEE ON TAXATION AND DEBT MANAGEMENT, I am writing in support of S. 2521 which would entirely exempt small royalty owners from the Windfall Profit Tax. I request that my statement which follows be included in the printed record of the hearings and be seriously considered by the Committee. The main points are: (1) My husband and I are retired and our retirement income has suffered from inflation. We need my royalty income to help us cope. (2) My personal royalty interest is small. (3) Production on this property was initiated by a small Independent Producer, but was taken over by AMOCO, an action over which I had no control. (4) My modest interest in production which is still controlled by small Independent Producers is not subject to the tax. I inherited from my mother a small royalty interest in oil production in Texas. This March, I was amazed to learn that AMOCO was deducting from my modest check a tax at the same rate at which the giant oil company pays under the "Windfall Profit Tax". The property referred to is approximately 100 acres located in the State of Texas and was developed more than 20 years ago by a small Independent Producer. Recently, AMOCO took over the production, an action in which I had no say. Other small royalty interests I own in the area are still being produced by Independents and are, therefore, not subject to the Tax. I find it difficult to believe that Congress intended that I, as a small royalty owner, should be taxed at the same rate as a multi-billion dollar corporation. My husband and I are retired and were counting on this small inheritance from my mother to augment his pension and try to cope with the effects inflation is having on our retirement years. I respectfully request that your committee seriously consider the injustice this tax on giant corporations is having on the small acreage and small royalty owners, and try to give us some relief, if not complete exemption from the "Windfall Profit Tax", which I believe should be the case. I appreciate the exemption on production by small Independent Producers and believe I should also be exempt on my small interest in production by a larger corporation. HELEN K. SIESS. May 26, 1980. SMALL ROYALTY OWNERS WINDFALL TAX EXEMPTION PETITION Mr. MICHAEL STERN, Staff Director, Committee on Finance, Room 2227, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. GENTLEMEN: We. the undersigned, were unable to attend either of the meetings of the Finance Subcommittee on Taxation which were held in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and Great Bend, Kansas on May 23, 1980. For this reason, we wish to present our strenuous objections to the “Oil Windfall Tax" as it is so unjustly applied to small royalty owners. Our objections are briefly outlined as follows: 1. To start with, we only receive a small percentage of the oil income from any oil well, large or small, and yet we are taxed at a 60% rate, the same as the oil giants. We are unable to manipulate expenses or prices to soften the blow. 2. The independent oil producer is only taxed 30% on the same oil. We do not object to this because the independent producer performs a very valuable and risky service for the oil industry but we do believe that small royalty owners should also receive equally fair treatment. 3. It is almost universally agreed upon that it is fair for persons with smaller incomes to pay income taxes at lower percentage rates than those with larger incomes. If this basic principle is fair, then it should obviously be only fair that small royalty owners should be taxed less and not at all on some logical minimum quantity of oil. 4. A windfall tax of 60% applied to a small royalty owner plus income taxes on the balance almost amounts to confiscation of property. Oil is property the same as land and buildings. Can anyone imagine the public uproar if all land and homes were taxed on a similar basis? 5. Finally, the farmer is being unmercifully squeezed between high costs and low prices for his farm products so why punish him additionally with a totally unfair windfall tax to add to his already difficult financial problems. With the above in mind, we respectfully request that Senate Bill S-2521 and House Bill H.R. 7127 be favorably acted upon. NAME Harvey E. Brown Marilyn J. Brown feurs Edstrom Joseph A Leiste 5-80 Rt. 2 Box 1497, 15380 Hally 45.80 Brighton, Cals 80601 6.6.80 272 Bx 225 E Brighton Colo 4-785 RE-2 Bay 225 Richard & Wermon 4.4.0 PX 2 BOA 157 A Bughter Colo & Werman. Nancy Pulis 80601. 6-9-80 Rt. 2, Box 157. A Bughton, Colo. 6.9.8 21 2 Box 182 Brighton, CO 8060/ m. Sock 6/9/80 Rt 2 By 183 Brighton col. 80601 Reuben Sterkel Вск 1857 6/9/80 Rt. 2 Box 185F, Brighton, Colo, Exch Morgant Mstered 698 At 2 Br. 1952 Bright Cals 6/9/80 80601 Coler Rtz Box 153 Brightwo! Arthur Egan Esther Rickardson 6/1/8 RT#1 Box 225E. Brightow James & Richardson 6/12 14405 Roll 2 HD Lupto colo Jamie C, Richardson (14/80 14405 Rd 12 Ho Lupton Cele SMALL ROYALTY OWNERS WINDFALL TAX EXEMPTION PETITION Mr. MICHAEL STERN, Staff Director, Committee on Finance, Room 2227, GENTLEMEN: We, the undersigned, were unable to attend either of the meetings of the Finance Subcommittee on Taxation which were held in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and Great Bend, Kansas on May 23, 1980. For this reason, we wish to present our strenuous objections to the "Oil Windfall Tax" as it is so unjustly applied to small royalty owners. Our objections are briefly outlined as follows: 1. To start with, we only receive a small percentage of the oil income from any oil well, large or small, and yet we are taxed at a 60% rate, the same as the oil giants. We are unable to manipulate expenses or prices to soften the blow. 2. The independent oil producer is only taxed 30% on the same oil. We do not object to this because the independent producer performs a very valuable and risky service for the oil industry but we do believe that small royalty owners should also receive equally fair treatment. 3. It is almost universally agreed upon that it is fair for persons with smaller incomes to pay income taxes at lower percentage rates than those with larger incomes. If this basic principle is fair, then it should obviously be only fair that small royalty owners should be taxed less and not at all on some logical minimum quantity of oil. 4. A windfall tax of 60% applied to a small royalty owner plus income taxes on the balance almost amounts to confiscation of property. Oil is property the same as land and buildings. Can anyone imagine the public uproar if all land and homes were taxed on a similar basis? 5. Finally, the farmer is being unmercifully squeezed between high costs and low prices for his farm products so why punish him additionally with a totally unfair windfall tax to add to his already difficult financial problems. With the above in mind, we respectfully request that Senate Bill S-2521 and House Bill H.R. 7127 be favorably acted upon. 80237 10/1 7250 Castion the 205, Da aragaloe St. Denver, Colo. 2000; 4/10/80 2.9094 fine. Dr. Golden Cole 82707 LAND 10 Bellema Way Littlet Colo 8012, 688 Skeel St, Brighton, Cols. 80601 6-7 BH1 Box 267 Brighton Colo 688 Skeel st Bughton Es, 80601 69 70745 Spre sz E. 6/9/80 3650 Sc. Portion way, Dean, 8023> Englewood Co 80112 6/9/80 3755 & Forest Way Dana 8023? 2601 S Quekic Denver 80231 6/7/80 4327 So toscante of England 6/10/1 Favors Inm6/10/1 6464 East BATES Ave Mr. MICHAEL STERN, BRIGHTON, COLO., June 14, 1980. Staff Director, Committee on Finance, Room 2227, GENTLEMEN: The attached petition has been signed by farmers and small oil royalty owners scattered over an oil field of about county size in area. This field is composed of many small producing oil wells, none of which are gushers, hence it well illustrates how damaging and unfair the 60% windfall oil tax falls on the small royalty owners of such wells. I feel sure that if more time were available we could have secured many, many more signatures to this petition and if it were explained and circulated nationally then there would have been several million signatures because the injustice of the excessive 60% windfall tax, as applied to small royalty owners, is so obvious. I am an elderly retired farmer and I have always believed that the majority of U.S. citizens have an inherent sense of justice therefore I sincerely hope that you agree with this conception and will exert every effort to correct the injustice now perpetrated on the small oil royalty owner. Sincerely yours, MARK MCELWAIN. |