U.S. Senate finance chair: Congress should hike tax on oil firms’ stock buybacks

(Reuters) – U.S. Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden on Thursday said Congress must do more to raise taxes on oil companies’ stock buybacks after Chevron Corp announced it would triple its budget for share buybacks to $75 billion.

“There were a lot of people who had to cut back on things like food, medicine, and travel with family when oil companies jacked up prices at the pump while pulling in record profits,” the Oregon Democrat said in a statement, adding he had proposed legislation to raise the tax on oil firm buybacks to 25%.

(Reporting By Paul Grant; Editing by Tim Ahmann)