Corporations shouldn’t be allowed to pass the costs of environmental disasters on to taxpayers by deducting such costs from their tax bills. Taxpayers already pay much of the cost to clean up oil spills — they shouldn’t pay again by subsidizing corporate taxes for companies responsible for these environmental disasters.
The IRS and agencies that settle with companies already have the authority to determine what is and isn’t tax-deductible in settlements, so there’s no need for this legislation. It would be simpler to require the IRS and agencies to clearly state tax-deductible versus non-tax-deductible parts of settlements when they’re made with corporations.