Dissuation

The government has released its half-yearly report on Mining Tax profits one year on from the implementation of the tax. Last year Julia Gillard promised that the controversial tax would generate over 2 billion dollars (2.05 billion U.S dollars) in its first financial year alone. The end results have been disappointing to say the least with the total profits equalling under 126 million, only 6.3% of expected revenue leading many to question whether the Mining tax was really worth it.  The nail in the coffin for the Mining Tax is not the forecast of 2 billion but the budget’s expectation of the tax. In Swan’s budget the tax was supposed to supply over 3 billion dollars of federal income, probably one of the main reasons for his doubletake on a budget surplus. Government spokesperson’s explained the failure as down to lower than expected commodity prices, probably due to the unexpectedly high Australian dollar as well as instability in our region and others.

The Coalition has jumped at these findings and has renewed its promise to scrap the tax as well as all related legislature if they rise to power. For more on Mining Tax head to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minerals_Resource_Rent_Tax