Column: China’s commodity import trend driven by prices, not economy
China's imports of major commodities are often viewed through the prism of the performance of, and outlook for, the world's second-biggest economy.
In Australia alone Rio paid last year around $15 million in mining duties.
Mining giant Rio Tinto (ASX, LON, NYSE:RIO) may have to pay an extra US$75 million in annual tax compliance costs as new global reporting requirements in the US and European Union go in effect.
In the miner’s annual report on taxes paid, chief financial officer Chris Lynch voices the firm’s frustration with the lack of international co-operation on tax transparency laws, which —he says— are likely to send compliance costs soaring by tens of millions of dollars for global companies.
Lynch called governments to work together in adopting a consistent global approach to disclosure requirements and thresholds, naming the Dodd Frank Wall Street Reform Act in the US and Chapter 10 of accounting directive 2013/34 in the European Union as examples of changes Rio Tinto is concerned about.
”A multitude of different reporting formats is unlikely to result in greater clarity and will impose additional costs upon companies, with little or no public benefit,” Lynch said.
In Australia alone the world’s second-largest mining company has already spent around $15 million in mining duties. The sum is likely to increase five-fold if Rio is also forced to with multiple new tax transparency regimes.
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