In a congressional hearing Thursday, Continental Resources CEO and
Mitt Romney’s chief energy adviser Harold Hamm asked to preserve the oil
industry’s billions in tax breaks, although his company pays little in
federal taxes. The oil firm has earned more than $1.8 billion profit
over five years by dominating the oil shale boom in North Dakota.
In his prepared testimony,
Hamm defends tax breaks by pointing to his own company, saying,
“Continental’s effective tax rate is 38%!” But according to Citizens for
Tax Justice, Continental paid an average 2.2 percent tax rate, or $40 million, over five years.
Hamm claims a higher tax rate by including deferred taxes the company hasn’t paid. It’s a popular tactic,
used by oil companies and the American Petroleum Institute. CTJ shows
that Continental Resources has paid federal income taxes as low as 0.1
percent in the last five years:
Here's one reason why an extra $40m in your pocket could come in handy these days:
Psst, want to buy a mega-mansion? Here in New York, we've got
plenty, and more all the time. There are at least eleven properties now
on the market for $50 million or more, according to Streeteasy.com's
Sofia Song — the highest number ever. From April to June of this year,
there were twelve priced at $50 million or more. In the same period in
2011, there were four; way back in the second quarter of 2008, before
the market began its downward spiral, there were only three.
Even $50 million seems almost passé now amid recent arrivals near the nine-digit mark. There’s the $100 million penthouse at 150 West 56th Street that debuted last weekend and the $95 million five-bedroom at the Ritz-Carlton that turned up on Thursday. Another $95 million combo listing, half of which once housed A-Rod, is now available at 15 Central Park West. (Check out the floor plan:
The master bedroom has a sitting room and a dressing room and another
area, presumably for sleeping, that could fit two taxis, easy.)
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