Wyoming reliant on coal taxes

Several states that produce large amounts of fossil fuels rely heavily on severance tax revenue, according to data from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). Severance taxes are taxes based on the volume and/or value of oil, natural gas, coal and other natural resources.

On average, severance taxes accounted for less than 2% of state tax collections in 2014, but in three states – Alaska, North Dakota, and Wyoming – severance taxes provided a much larger share of total state tax revenue in that year.

While oil and gas provide most of the severance tax receipts in Alaska and North Dakota, in Wyoming – the largest coal-producing state in the US – coal mining is the largest source of the state’s severance tax income, which comprises nearly 40% of state revenues.

Wyoming state and local governments also derive revenue from property taxes, with coal, oil, and natural gas totalling more than 50% of state-assessed valuation.

Edited by Jonathan Rowland.

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcoal.com/coal/24082015/wyoming-reliant-on-coal-industry-taxes-2768/