Lably
Skip to content

Severance tax

Taxes imposed on removal of natural resources

  • 1 min read
  • 3 chapters

Related on Lably

Through Natural resource, Petroleum and Natural gas

Note that severance taxes are used in jurisdictions where most resource extraction occurs on privately owned land and/or where sub-surface minerals are privately owned (for example, the United States). Where the resources are publicly owned to begin with (for example, in most Commonwealth and European Union countries), it is not a tax but rather a resource royalty that is paid. In the case of the forestry industry, this royalty is called "stumpage".

Oil and natural gas

Severance taxes are set and collected at the state level. States usually calculate the tax based on the value and/or volume produced; sometimes the method differs for oil, natural gas, and condensates. Production from certain wells may be exempt from severance tax based on the amount of production (i.e. "stripper" wells) or the type of well (i.e. horizontal, tertiary, deep, etc). As of 2021, 34 states collect a severance tax on oil and gas extraction.

As of September 2022, the Colorado severance tax was 1% of the gross income from oil and gas owed.

Sign in to keep reading

2 more chapters are free with a Lably account.

More in Politics and economics