Mother Jones: Chevron Made $4.5 Billion in 2018. So Why Did the IRS Give Them a Refund?
media mentionThe largest chunk of Chevron’s $1.1 billion in tax breaks came in the form of tax deferral, a longstanding tax instrument that enables businesses to postpone paying taxes until a later fiscal year—sometimes indefinitely. Tax deferral is not new, but by lowering the corporate tax rate from 35 to 21 percent, Trump’s tax law made it possible to defer even more taxes on a company’s books. According to Chevron’s 10-K form, various deferments moved $738 million into the future for Chevron to pay later. “A chunk of it is that the company is using tax breaks it has stored up from prior years,” Gardner explains, estimating that this would potentially add up to $400 million.