TAX PROTESTS AND APPEALS – AUSTRALIA

BHP loses epic tax battle

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Original article by Nick Evans
The Australian – Page: 20 : 12-Mar-20

The High Court has ruled in the Australian Taxation Office’s favour in a long-running tax dispute with BHP over its marketing hub in Singapore. BHP will have to pay an additional $US87m ($125m) in tax for the income years 2006 to 2018 after the court ruled that its Australian and British arms are ‘associates’ for tax purposes. A spokesman has noted that the resources group has paid some $71bn in taxes and royalties in Australia over the last decade.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE

Tax fight left rare earths miner on the brink

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Original article by Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 17 & 20 : 1-Jul-19

Northern Minerals has spent $210m to date on its Browns Range rare earths project in Western Australia’s East Kimberley region. MD George Bauk says a dispute with the Australian Tax Office over a $10.8m research and development tax rebate nearly saw the company collapse in early 2019. The ATO also demanded that Northern Minerals repay $13.4m worth of previous R&D rebates. Bauk maintains that the Browns Range processing plant is an R&D site, as the technology it uses is still being developed and improved.

CORPORATES
NORTHERN MINERALS LIMITED – ASX NTU, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, LYNAS CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX LYC, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES

Activist sees end of BHP dual-list

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Original article by Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 19 : 5-Feb-19

Activist hedge fund Elliott Management argues that BHP’s $529m settlement of a tax dispute in November has strengthened the case for the abolition of its dual-listed structure. Elliott CEO Paul Singer believes that such a move would have broad support among BHP shareholders in the wake of the deal with the Australian Taxation Office regarding its Singapore marketing hub. However, British shareholders may be reluctant to support scrapping the dual listing, which could potentially result in BHP’s removal from the FTSE 100.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, ELLIOTT MANAGEMENT CORPORATION, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, FTSE 100 INDEX, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, GLENCORE PLC

Tax law loss delivers $82m hit to BHP

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Original article by Ben Butler
The Australian – Page: 19 : 30-Jan-19

The full Federal Court has overturned the Administrative Appeals Tribunal’s ruling that BHP and its London-listed arm are not associates for tax purposes. The case centred on the Australian Taxation Office’s dispute with BHP over its controversial marketing hub in Singapore. The ATO had alleged that BHP’s dual-listing agreement meant that its Australian division had to pay tax on the British arm’s profits under rules governing controlled foreign corporations.

CORPORATES
BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, AUSTRALIA. ADMINISTRATIVE APPEALS TRIBUNAL, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, HUNTER VALLEY COAL CORPORATION

Rio Tinto ramps up ATO battle with $3.8b report

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 10-Apr-17

Rio Tinto has released a report which shows that it paid $US2.89bn ($A3.85bn) in taxes to governments in Australia during 2016. This compares with $US3.3bn in 2015. The Federal Government received a total of $US1.39bn in tax payments from Rio Tinto in 2016. The resources giant is disputing the Australian Taxation Office’s ruling that it must pay an additional $A447 million in taxes. The ruling is associated with Rio Tinto’s use of a marketing hub in Singapore. Rio’s global tax bill totalled $US3.98bn in 2016.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

Another big miner in $1.2b ATO dispute

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 30-Aug-16

An Australian subsidiary of Japan’s Mitsubishi claimed a $A1.22bn income tax deduction in 2009, which related to its acquisition of a coal tenement by the company’s joint venture with BHP Billiton in 2008. The Australian Taxation Office subsequently served Mitsubishi with a notice of amended assessment regarding the tax deduction. The tax dispute has yet to be resolved, although the ATO recently offered a settlement to Mitsubishi.

CORPORATES
MITSUBISHI CORPORATION, MITSUBISHI DEVELOPMENT PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, BM ALLIANCE COAL OPERATIONS PTY LTD, NEW HOPE CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX NHC, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, GLENCORE PLC

News Corp in undisclosed $75m tax fight

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Original article by Neil Chenoweth
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 20-Jul-16

News Corp Australia’s submission to a Senate inquiry into tax avoidance in February 2015 stated that the media group believed that it fully complied with Australia’s income tax laws. Just days later the Australian Taxation Office issued a tax assessment regarding some $A75m in undeclared income from fiscal 2010. News Corp subsequently lodged an objection to the tax assessment, one day after former CEO Julian Clarke appeared before the Senate inquiry. The media group has since lodged a Federal Court appeal against the tax assessment.

CORPORATES
NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY