Labor’s mining tax costing more than it raises
Another Labor disaster just got worse:
NEW figures show Labor’s mining tax is costing more than it is raising as the government has been forced to repay more than $230 million in overpaid tax…
Finance Minister Mathias Cormann said the figures ... showed that the Australian Taxation Office had refunded another $175m in previously overpaid Minerals Resource Rent Tax instalments in March. A further $10.6m in MRRT prepayments had been refunded in April....
“This brings total mining tax refunds so far to more than $237m, when the final budget outcome for 2012-13 showed that only $200m in net revenue had been raised from quarterly MRRT prepayments,’’ Senator Cormann said.
He said the mining tax had cost the tax office more than $50m to administer.
When Julia Gillard and Wayne Swan first announced the MRRT they said it would raise $4 billion in the first year,’’ Senator
Cormann said. He said Labor had also pledged spending commitments on the back of money that had yet to be raised by the tax.
“Labor spent all the money they thought it would raise and more, exposing the budget to significant structural risk,’’ Senator Cormann said.
“This deeply flawed MRRT is literally now costing taxpayers money. Yet Labor wants to keep it,” he said.
The latest government figures showed the underlying cash balance for the year to March 31 was a deficit of $34.783bn, compared with the mid-year economic and fiscal outlook projected a deficit of $35.814bn.
The difference of $1.031bn related to lower than expected cash payments which were partially offset by lower than expected cash receipts, excluding net Future Fund earnings.
