Australian Government Makes Progress In Tax Talks With Miner - Report

1st Jul 2010 05:47

MELBOURNE (Dow Jones)--The Australian Government has reportedly made significant progress in its talks with Australia's three biggest miners over its planned Resource Super Profits Tax. The Age newspaper, without citing sources, said Thursday that BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP.AU), Rio Tinto Ltd. (RIO.AU) and Xstrata Plc (XTA.LN) have now agreed key elements of a new resource tax structure, including raising the threshold at which the tax kicks in. Under the government's original proposal, the tax kicked in when a project's rate of return reached the level of the long term bond yield but The Age said this had now been raised to the long term bond yield plus 7%. The newspaper also said the government has agreed to let the miners inject existing assets into the tax regime at market value, allowing them to claim large deductions for depreciation. The Age said it was still unclear whether a deal had been struck on the headline 40% rate of the tax but the government was believed to have also given ground on this point. The new agreement is also likely to see lower value resources like sand, gravel and limestone excluded from the tax regime, along with nickel mining and processing. Newspaper website: http://www.theage.com.au -By Melbourne bureau; 61-3-9292-2093; [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires July 01, 2010 00:47 ET (04:47 GMT)