PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Mining major BHP on Tuesday revealed that it had paid some $9.1-billion in tax, royalties and other government payments during the 2020 financial year.
In its Economic Contribution Report, company CFO Peter Beaven noted that over the last decade, the company paid some $85-billion globally in royalties, taxes and government payments.
For the 2020 financial year, some 82.2%, or $7.5-billion, of the royalty and tax payments were made in Australia, with the company paying some $64.2-billion in royalties and taxes in Australia over the last ten years.
In Chile, BHP contributed $946.4-million in royalties and taxes during 2020, while paying a further $378.7-million in the US, and $70.7-million in the UK.
“Our global effective tax rate in 2020 was 33.2%, which is broadly in line with our average adjusted effective tax rate over the past decade of 33.5%. Once royalties are included, our 2020 rate increases to 42.2%,” Beaven said.
He noted that BHP’s total direct economic contribution for 2020 amounted to $37.2-billion globally, and included wages and benefits to more than 80 000 employees and contractors, as well as payments to suppliers, dividends, taxes and royalties, and voluntary investment into social projects.