The article points out that fines are not tax deductible and gives the other example of BP and Deepwater Horizon > But such write-offs are legal, qualifying as

The article points out that fines are not tax deductible and gives the other example of BP and Deepwater Horizon > But such write-offs are legal, qualifying as “ordinary and necessary” business expenses. By contrast, fines and penalties are not deductible. Oil giant BP was able to deduct most of the settlement it reached with the government over the Deepwater Horizon spill because much of it went to address the environmental calamity, rather than to penalties for wrongdoing. And the other points in the article are the trust that was set up and the expenses for cleaning up the spill were what was deducted on taxes but they seemingly did not actually do anything to clean it up. > In 2012, the Coast Guard finally ordered Taylor to install a dome to contain the leak, but three years later, when Taylor Energy settled a lawsuit that forced it to start publicly disclosing more about its efforts, the company had not even finished the design.