Today it has emerged that the controversial mining tax – which applies to coal and iron ore only – raised just $126 million in its first six months of operation, well down from the $2 billion budgeted by the government this financial year. From The Age:
The government’s controversial mining tax has raised only $126 million in its first six months of operation, Treasurer Wayne Swan has announced.
The Gillard government had budgeted for the tax to raise $2 billion this financial year…
Treasurer Wayne Swan said it was ”clear revenues from resource rent taxes have taken a massive hit from the impact of continued global instability, commodity price volatility and a high dollar”.
”Revenues across the board are down very substantially – MRRT is a profits-based tax that raises more revenue when profits are higher and less when they are lower.
With the recent big bounce in iron ore prices (see next chart), we expect mining tax revenues to increase in the second half.
But with the ongoing weakness in coal prices, the government can kiss goodbye to its $2 billion budget forecast, with full-year revenues likely to undershoot by a very big margin.
