Oil companies hid billions from states, study claims

Oil companies hid $5 billion in profits from state tax collectors in 1978 by reporting only half the taxable income they reported to the federal government, a study by the Citizen-Labor Energy Coalition charged. It said another $4.3 billion in profits escaped state taxation because states adopted federal tax loopholes. It estimated that untaxed profits would increase to $17 billion this year, depriving states of $800 million in revenues.

The American Petroleum Institute, the largest oil industry trade group, denounced the study as a collection of "misleading, inaccurate, and questionable data and conclusions."