Critical Review Sample---Australian Mining Tax

1TherehavebeenaseriesofdramaticalchangesinthefieldofAustralianpoliticsandeconomicsresultingfromnewminingtaxesimposedbygovernmentrecently.Itarousesaheateddisputeaboutrelationshipbetweentaxationpoliciesandminingindustryinmanyfieldsofsociety.Thisessayexaminesthesomeresearchesthatcontributedtotheanalysisoftheinfluencesoftaxationonnaturalresourcesandspecificallydrawsattentiontotheaspectsofminingindustry.Anumberofstudieshaveexploredthiscontroversialissue.ThesestudiesareNovak’s(2010)“Killingthegoldengoose:TheResourcesSuperProfitsTax”;ColborneandBarnett’s(2006)“Whatyoushouldknowaboutminingandtaxation”andSaidu’s(2007)“Howtaxes,royalties,andfiscalregimestabilityaffectmininginvestment:acomparisonofNigerandIndonesia”.Theyallconcurthattaxpolicesplayasignificantroleinminingindustries.However,Novak’sanalysisisaboutofAustralia’snewminingtaxfromminingcompany’sperspectiveandColborneandBarnett’sstudyfocusesonthestructureofminingtaxinCanada,aswellaswhileSaidu’scomparisonresearchdiscussesaboutinfluenceoftaxoninvestmentofmininginNigerandIndonesia.Althoughtheseresearchesexaminetheinfluenceoftaxationpoliciesonminingindustryindiversecountriesandmaydisagreementinsomeway,theircontributionisvitalsincetheyhavegivenvaluablestructureofestimateforresearchers.BothNovakandSaiduanalysethecharactersofminingindustry.Theybelievethatmininghasitsuniquecharacteristicsandhencethedesignofminingtaxshouldmeetthem.Thesecharacteristicsarecapitalintense,highrisk,longterm,volatilemarketandlatepayback.Taxationrepresentscostandriskonminingcompanies.Therefore,astable,neutralandequitabletaxationwillbebeneficialforminingindustry.Inadditionto,theybothcomparethetaxburdenofminingindustryindifferentcountries.However,Novakarguesthathightaxburdenwillharmformininginvestment,specificallyimpactemergentresourceprojectsthatrequiresubstantialreturnstobecomeacommerciallyviableproposition.Bycomparison,whileSaidualsoconsiderthattaxburdenisoneofinfluencefactorsofmininginvestment,hegofurtherandexaminethattaxincentivesofferedtomininginvestors,inotherwords,taxallowances.HecitesGentryandO'Neil(1984)’sviewstoshowthatcorporateinvestment2capitalcertainlymoreprefertomobileandflowstocountriesthatmaximizewealthfortheinvestor.Butitisstillnotadeterminantsinceitneedstoassessthepoliticalriskinherentinacountrywhenaminingcompanydecidewhetherornotinvesttheminingresourcesofacountry.IntheColborneandBarnett’sarticle,theyalsoanalyseminingtaxallowenceinCanadaandindicatethatthesepoliciescanimproveinvestmentofmining.Inaddition,ColborneandBarnettanalyseCanada’sminingtaxsystemandshowhowCanada’sminingtaxrulesapplytotheminingindustry.Theybelievethatacountrycansuccessfullyabsorbmininginvestmentthroughappropriatearrangementoftaxstructure.Similarly,Saidualsoanalysestheinfluencesofgeneralfiscalregimeonmineralindustryinvestment.Hebelievesthatanidealminingtaxregimeshouldbedesignedtoprovideforafairparticipationbythestateintherevenuesderivedfromtheminingactivityandafairrateofreturningtotheinvestor.WhileNovakdonotanalyseparticularlyAustralia’staxregime,heclaimsthatdesignofminingtaxinrelationtoflowofinvestmentcapital.Hebelievesthathigherminingtaxesleadtothe'capitalflight'ofmininginvestmentstomorehospitablebusinessenvironments.Althoughallauthorspointouttherelationshipbetweenarrangementofminingtaxandinvestment,theyhavedivergentperspectives.SaidushowsthattheMiningLawandconventionofNigerandIndonesiacoverthecompany'srightsandobligations,includingtaxobligationsandanalysesthepurposeoftaxationdesign.Hecitescritics’viewtoshowthatsomefiscalpoliciesarenotsuitableforthedevelopmentandinvestmentofminingindustry.Forexample,royaltieshavenouniformstandardthroughthewholeminingindustry,whereasmineralsarepricedandsoldataninternationallevel.Bycomparison,ColborneandBarnett’sarticledoesnotemphasistherightsandobligationsofcompanyandtax,butonlypresenttheCanada‘sminingtaxitemstoshowhowthiskindofdesignsuitfortheminingindustry.Forexample,hepresentsoneofitemsisnoGSTispayableonroyaltiespaidforarangeofrightsincludingexploration,exploitationandproduction.Inaddition,whileNovakconcursthatthepurposeoftheResourceSuperProfitsTax(RSPT)imposedbygovernmentistopreventthere‐emergenceofthesocalled‘twospeed’economyinAustralia,shecriticizesthatthisview3ignorestheinteractiverelationshipbetweenminingandthewholeeconomyofacountry.Hearguesthatthisindustrycanequallyprovidejobchancesandcontributetoeconomicgrowthnotonlyintheminingareabutalsotheplacelocatedbyheadquartersofminingcorporate.Similarly,Saidualsoreferstothatminingindustrycanpromoteeconomicgrowthandincreaseemploymentaswellasimprovethequalityoflifeindevelopingcountries.Althoughthesethreearticlesprovideobjectiveanalysistothisissuefromdifferentperspectives,westillquestionwhethertheseviewscangiveasatisfactoryexplanationtothecomplexityofit.Whatistherelationshipbetweenminingandenvironment?Whetherornotdogovernmentsconsidertheimpactofminingonenvironmentwhentheydesignminingtax?DoesminingtaxhavespecialinfluenceonpoliticsinthecountrieswhereregardminingasthepillarindustrylikeCanadaandAustralia?Inconclusion,theseimport