so how much tax do the miners pay??

in this mornings sunday times

"In an exclusive interview with The Sunday Telegraph, Mr Swan seized on an independent analysis conducted for the Henry review of taxation, which showed multinational mining companies - such as BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Shenhua - pay only 13 per cent in company tax.



Their tax rate is so low because of a suite of concessions to the flat-rate company tax of 30 per cent on all profits.

Domestic miners, including Fortescue and Newcrest, pay approximately 17 per cent.


"But what the mining companies won't tell you is they are getting a massive discount already on the company tax they pay because of generous concessions they get at the expense of other Australian taxpayers.
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. previously, the government used figures, which simply showed the amount of royalties, that were paid - but excluded company tax... so the government was being a tad dishonest.

bhp, claim that they are presently paying a total (royalties plus income tax)of bout 43% tax . obviously, wayne swan is now excluding royalties in his figures .

obviously, there is a massive disparity, somewhere. so what are these concessions, which bring bhp's effective tax rate, down to 13%... maybe they include extra depreciation allowances etc etc