Blog
Australia divided on a mining super-tax
4th June 2010
Windfall taxes are undeniably popular for politicians. On the pretext of “excess profits” there is always pressure for a government to tap the super-high profits of industries enjoying high profits on the back of high commodity prices and a fast growth of market demand. The Australian government plans a super tax on the profits of the Australian mining industry but it is facing huge opposition to the proposal. Are one-off taxes equitable and efficient? We have tried them before in the UK including windfall levies on north sea oil and gas companies, the banks and Gordon Brown’s infamous raid on the pension funds - but with very mixed results.
Geoff Riley
Geoff Riley FRSA has been teaching Economics for over thirty years. He has over twenty years experience as Head of Economics at leading schools. He writes extensively and is a contributor and presenter on CPD conferences in the UK and overseas.