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John Bradford’s article “Tax Planning for Oil and Gas Joint Operations”, originally prepared for the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation’s 2016 Special Institute on Joint Operations and the New AAPL Form 610-2015 Model Form Joint Operating Agreement, has been selected for publication by the University of North Texas Institute of Petroleum Accounting in its Petroleum Accounting and Financial Management Journal.  Part 1 of the article appears in the 2017 Spring, volume 36, no. 1 edition, while part 2 will follow in the 2017 Summer edition.
Continue Reading A Key Resource For Structuring Oil & Gas Joint Operations

The oil and gas industry has a significant and far reaching economic impact in Louisiana. According to one 2014 study, the total direct and indirect impact on the state is approximately $73.8 billion.[1] Taxes make up a large part of the industry’s direct economic impact in Louisiana: In 2013, the industry paid nearly $1.5 billion in taxes to the State, about 14.6% of the total taxes, licenses and fees collected that year.[2] A large chunk of the taxes paid by oil and gas companies are severance taxes, which are levied on the production of natural resources taken from private and public land or water bottoms within the territorial boundaries of the state.[3] Natural resources might include, for example timber, minerals like oil and gas, coal, salt, or sulphur. Overall, collections on oil and gas amount to nearly 92% of all severance tax collections in the state.[4]
Continue Reading Louisiana Department of Revenue Targets Energy Companies in Rash of Oil Severance Tax Audits

On June 17, 2016, the Texas Supreme Court ruled that an oil and gas producer (“Southwest”) was not entitled to a statutory exemption from sales taxes on its purchases of casing, tubing and pumps used in the production of oil and gas (the “Equipment”).

At issue in Southwest Royalties, Inc. v. Hegar was whether the Equipment qualifies under the so-called “manufacturing exemption” found in Section 111.104(a)(2) of the Texas Tax Code,  which exempts:

tangible personal property directly used or consumed in or during the actual manufacturing, processing, or fabrication of tangible personal property for ultimate sale if the use or consumption of the property is necessary or essential to the manufacturing, processing, or fabrication operation and directly makes or causes a chemical or physical change to:

(A) the product being manufactured, processed, or fabricated for ultimate sale; or

(B) any intermediate or preliminary product that will become an ingredient or component part of the product being manufactured, processed, or fabricated for ultimate sale[.]
Continue Reading Texas Supreme Court Rules Oil and Gas Producer Not Entitled to Sales Tax “Manufacturing Exemption”

The extended downturn in the oilfield economy is showing up in some taxpayers’ inability to pay their Texas real property and personal property ad valorem taxes when those taxes become due.  This note reminds taxpayers what happens when the ad valorem taxes are not timely paid.  It also reminds lenders with security interests in real…

The Texas Franchise Tax is imposed on taxable entities that do business in Texas or that are chartered or organized in the state.  Taxpayers subject to the Texas Franchise Tax may compute their tax liabilities under several alternative methods to determine which one results in the lowest amount of tax due.

One such method is…