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Tuesday, 16 August 2011
Page: 4566

Mining

(Question No. 669)

Senator Milne asked the Minister representing the Treasurer, upon notice, on 25 May 2011:

(1)   Under the fuel tax credit scheme providing rebates for off-road diesel use: (a) what was the total rebate paid to the mining industry in the 2009-10 financial year; and (b) can a breakdown of that figure be provided according to each of the following mining industry sectors: (i) coal mining, (ii) oil and gas mining, (iii) metal ore mining, (iv) construction material mining, (v) other non-metallic mineral mining and quarrying, (vi) exploration, and (vii) other mining support services.

(2)   (a) Which mining companies received the 10 highest rebates in the 2009-10 financial year; and (b) for each, what was the name of the company and the amount of rebate received.

(3)   (a) What was the total deduction claimed in the 2009-10 financial year for the mining and quarrying exploration and prospecting deduction; and (b) which companies claimed the 10 largest deductions in the 2009-10 financial year.

(4)   (a) What was the total amount claimed in the 2009-10 financial year in accelerated depreciation; (b) what part of that amount was claimed by the mining industry sectors; and (c) which mining companies claimed the 10 largest deductions.

Senator Wong: The Treasurer has provided the following answer to the honourable senator's question:

(1) (a) Total fuel tax credits paid in 2009-10 was $5 billion. According to the published ATO Taxation Statistics 2009-10 (page 133), the mining industry was paid $1.89 billion in fuel tax credits in 2009-10.

(1) (b) In claiming fuel tax credits, businesses provide only one industry code (ie ANZSIC). They are however often involved in multiple mining activities. The table below provides a breakdown of the mining industry by this singular industry code.

Industry	Amount ($M)
(i) Coal Mining	649
(ii) Oil and Gas Extraction	72
(iii) Metal Ore Mining	843
(iv) Construction Material Mining	19
(v) Other Non-Metallic Mineral Mining and Quarrying	92
(vi) Exploration	131
(vii) Other Mining Support Services	84
Total	$1,890

 

(2) Due to the operation of the secrecy provisions under Division 355, Schedule 1 of the Tax Administration Act 1953 (particularly section 355-25) the Commissioner of Taxation is unable to disclose information concerning the taxation affairs of individual taxpayers. The information requested does not fall within the exceptions set out in this division..

(3) (a) Data on the total deduction for mining and quarrying exploration and prospecting expenses is not available. However, as at 7 June 2011, for the 2009-10 income year, the value claimed for the decline in value of depreciating assets used in exploration or prospecting was approximately $8 billion, rounded to the nearest billion. This amount is a component of the total deduction for mining and quarrying exploration and prospecting that would have been claimed for the 2009-10 income year.

(3) (b) As per the response to (3) (a), the data required to answer this question is not available.

(4) (a) Information on accelerated depreciation is not collected separately from information on deprecation generally. Consequently, the total amount of accelerated deprecation claimed in any one year is not known.

(4) (b) As noted in (4) (a), data on accelerated depreciation is not available. However, there is data to show that the mining sector claimed deductions for total depreciation (accelerated depreciation and other depreciation) of approximately $11 billion (rounded to the nearest billion) in the 2008-09 year.

(4) (c) As noted in (4) (a), data on accelerated depreciation is not available.