Australian mining giants BHP Billiton
(ASX:BHP) & Rio Tinto
(ASX:RIO) and Swiss giant Xstrata have come out in support of the government’s new mining tax saying they are encouraged by the Australian Government’s decision to replace the proposed Resources Super Profits Tax with a Mineral Resource Rent Tax.
The MRRT will come into play from July 1, 2012 and will only apply to mined iron ore and coal, all other minerals are excluded.
The rate of tax will be 30% applied to the taxable profit at the resource and will not apply to low levels of resource profits of $50 million or less a year.
And while BHP CEO Marius Kloppers says there is still much work to be done before the tax is enacted, the company will work constructively with the government to ensure that the detailed design of minerals taxation maintains the international competitiveness of the Australian resources industry into the future.
BHP Billiton’s net profit for fiscal 2009 came to $7.24 billion, while for calendar 2009 Rio Tinto earned profit of $5.4 billion.
