Accounting and Society(The Minerals Resource Rent Tax) Essay

Accounting and Society(The Minerals Resource Rent Tax) - Essay Example Australian government collects huge revenue from the taxes paid by the mining industries in the country. The various new features of MRRT have been included in this study. Moreover the potential impacts of the introduction of MRRT on the accounting policies followed by the mining companies have also been studied. Mineral Industry of Australia has been reviewed and its inherent potential and its industry structure have been studied in this report. Australia is well known for its varied natural resources. Both metallic and non-metallic minerals are widely found in Australia. It is rich in fuel minerals too. Commodity exports from Australia in the form of minerals and energy constitutes a significant portion of Australian economy. Earnings from commodity exports are expected to rise on a continuous basis for Australia because of rising demand of mineral resources worldwide. Global Financial Crisis (GFC) had an adverse effect on the mineral industry in Australia. The rise in the producti on of commodities like iron ore, copper, bauxite, natural gas, etc. have slowed down in the recent years. However, the country has a huge potential of mineral production and several investment projects are expected to come up or are already going on. Western Australia is the leading state of the country in terms of exports of metallic minerals. Major areas of coal exports in the country are Queensland and New South Wales. However to have a sustainable growth in mineral exports Australia needs a significant improvement and expansion in its infrastructural facilities. Australia falls amongst the top 10 mineral exporting countries in the world. There has been a significant increase in the spending in terms of mineral explorations in the country. Mining industry of Australia also forms a significant component of the GDP of the country. Many people get employment opportunity in the mining sector as well. Hence mineral industry is expected to contribute to Australian economic development in a significant way in future (IBP USA, 2005, p.48). 2.1.2 Industry Structure The mine industry in Australia follows a free enterprise system. Private companies of the country take part in all the mining activities like exploration, production, development and marketing of minerals. Significant numbers of mineral companies in Australia are subsidiaries of companies in US or Europe. It controls a major part of the refining and mining sector in Australia. Relevant State Governments hold the ownership rights of mineral exploration in Australia. Ownership of minerals in Australia is divided amongst State and Commonwealth ownership in onshore and offshore areas of the country. The mineral industries in each areas of the country are administered by the government authorities in Territories and States, depending on the region in which they fall. The administering process by the Government includes activities like land registration, issuing exploration permits, ensuring the compliance of g overnment regulations related to safety, health and environmental matters, levying taxes and royalties, etc. Hence, government has an effective control over the production of most of the minerals