"In This Land of Milk and Honey, You Must Put Them on the Table"

[Title borrowed from a Steely Dan song of 25 years ago or so] [Topic also covered in Web CPA at http://www.webcpa.com/article.cfm?articleid=20128] The Senate Finance Committee has called for tax forms of the last five years from the 15 largest petroleum companies to assure that these companies have been correctly calculating tax liabilities. Specifically, Forms 1118 (foreign tax credits), 1120, 5471 (controlled foreign corporations), 6765 (research activities credit) and Schedule M-3 (book to tax income reconciliation on Form 1120) will be scruntized.

It is no surprise that the oil companies are going under the microscope--ExxonMobil's package to Lee Raymond of $100 + million alone might have been enough to raise hackles. The big question--are there enough sharp staffers to accurately access the results? Seeing that neither Grassley nor Baucus prepared their own tax return last year (see last week's "Do What I Say, Not What I Do" post), staffers will hold the key to the credibility of the investigation.