Photo by: Bloomberg
PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The highly contested minerals resource rent tax (MRRT) has managed to rake in only A$600 000 in revenue during the June quarter – only one-half of a per cent of the estimated A$150-million revenue forecast at the Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook.
Federal Treasurer Joe Hockey pointed out that the June receipt was also far less than the Coalition government’s initial forecast in December.
“It continues to defy logic that Labor, under the leadership of Bill Shorten, would continue to support a tax which has raised next to no revenue but is linked to spending of A$17-billion over the next four years alone,” Hockey said.
Earlier this year, the Senate failed to abolish the MRRT, with the Australian Labor and Greens parties banding together to maintain the tax. By July, the Senate voted to scrap the tax, but not before amending the legislation to save associated spending measures.
The government did not accept the changes to the legislation.
Hockey said on Wednesday that the original resource super profits tax announced by then Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, had been estimated to raise A$49.5-billion from 2012/13 to 2016/17. This figure was revised downward to A$26.5-billion over the same period, when previous Prime Minister Julia Gillard introduced the MRRT.
Net revenue from the MRRT at the 2014/15 Budget was expected to total just A$300-million.
“The mining tax has worsened the Budget’s position, with Labor having locked in more than A$17-billion of spending. The expected net revenue of A$300-million is just 2% of the total expenditure linked to the mining tax,” Hockey said.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott has been insistent that the MRRT be abolished, and the legislation was expected to be re-introduced to Senate.