Lol, if you live long enough you get to see everything, from The Australian:
The federal government plans to overhaul the petroleum resource rent tax, crude oil excise and related royalties in the wake of falling revenues.
Treasurer Scott Morrison said revenue from the PRRT had halved since 2012-13 to $800 million and crude oil excise had also fallen by more than half.
He has commissioned a review by distinguished former Treasury official Michael Callaghan to report back by April 2017.
Mr Morrison said his office had begun work on the terms of reference in September and that he had subsequently met with the ATO and industry groups.
“This is an issue people understand exists and the decline in those revenues can be put down to any number of matters, particularly the decline in production as existing projects come to the end of their lives, the subdued outlook for oil and gas prices and large amounts of deductible expenditures from the recent mining investment boom,” Mr Morrison said.
“There have been no changes to the PRRT since 2012 and we think it is timely that these matters be addressed and be addressed in time for these matters to be considered in the preparation of next year’s budget.”
…“It is important these companies pay their fair share when it comes to these issues. They pay company tax, they also pay other forms of tax. We need to deals with these things sensitively.
It’s a good move. The tax regime probably is being rorted.
Only problem is, this was Downgrade Morrison a few lousy months ago:
Treasurer Scott Morrison opposes the WA Nationals’ proposed mining tax on Rio Tinto and BHP Biliton, saying more tax isn’t the answer.
“Taxing is not the answer, what’s important is you have to make sure the people who have to pay tax, pay tax, that’s why we’ve cracked down on multinational tax avoidance,” he told 6PR radio.
“That’s one of the key reasons we’re making changes to superannuation, to make sure that system’s sustainable into the future.”
WA Nationals leader Brendon Grylls proposes increasing the charge from 25 cents to $5 per tonne of iron ore for the two major mining companies, to help fix the ailing WA budget.
So far as I can tell, all new LNG plants are losing money while Pilbara iron ore margins are currently sitting at 210%:
Just another day in the Canberra swamp!
