Rio Tinto on Mon 17.3.2014, published its latest “Taxes paid report”, the 4th year it has published this report, which details the US$7.5 billion of taxes the company paid around the world in 2013. The company said it also paid USid=”mce_marker”.9 billion of taxes on behalf of its employees. The voluntary annual report details all individual payments more than USid=”mce_marker” million made to governments in the countries where Rio Tinto operates.
The majority of Rio Tinto’s taxes were paid in Australia (US$5.7bn), followed by Canada (US$523m), Chile (US$380m), Mongolia (US$220m), United States (US$217m), South Africa (USid=”mce_marker”67m), France (USid=”mce_marker”26m), Guinea (US$64m), Singapore (US$52m) and the United Kingdom (US$26m). Corporate income tax was the largest component of Rio Tinto’s tax payments around the world, followed by government royalties, employer payroll taxes and other taxes.
Rio Tinto Chief Financial Officer Chris Lynch said the report “demonstrates the significant contribution Rio Tinto makes to public finances in the countries where it operates around the globe”, however he said Rio Tinto was concerned about additional compliance costs associated with the proliferation of new regulatory initiatives around worldwide tax reporting that have recently been introduced, or are under consideration, by various governments.
Source: Rio Tinto media release, 17 March 2014
[LTN 51, 17/3/14]