The Coalition has pledged to introduce a tax credit scheme for...

The Coalition has pledged to introduce a tax credit scheme for mining exploration companies.

The industry has been asking for tax relief to help stimulate investment in the drilling and exploration sector, which has stagnated for years.

Shadow Resources Minister Ian MacFarlane says the policy is for an exploration development incentive (EDI) to allow investors to deduct the expense of exploration against their taxable income.

"Under the Coalition's scheme, the Australian Taxation Office will determine a proportion of expenses that can be claimed as tax credits by investors.

"Our scheme will target small exploration companies by limiting eligibility to companies with no taxable income and will be capped at $100 million over the forward estimates."

The EDI will start on July 1, 2014.

The Association of Mining and Exploration Companies (AMEC) has welcomed the announcement, which was made at its annual conference in Perth.

CEO Simon Bennison says the EDI is similar to the mineral exploration tax credit scheme the association has been proposing.

"This is a very positive step, and if the Coalition wins the election we'll sit down and discuss the finer points of the policy with them."

But Federal Resources Minister Gary Gray says Labor does not support the mining industry's push for a tax credit policy, because exploration is already well supported.

"GeoScience Australia has a very large national program and so does CSIRO to support companies to better understand geology, better identify their targets and then better understand the analysis that comes from their drilling." he said.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-09-03/coalition-exploration-tax-policy/4931946