The IGF has released a draft for consultation on a forthcoming practice note entitled Protecting the Right to Tax Mining Income: Tax Treaty Practice in Mining Countries. Interested parties from government, academia, industry, and civil society are invited to review the document and submit written feedback to Secretariat@IGFMining.org by September 30.
Background
Large-scale mining in developing countries is often undertaken by non-resident investors, licence holders, service providers, and suppliers. This gives rise to a range of cross-border transactions and a key question for governments: which country has the right to tax the income from these transactions, and under what conditions?
Double taxation agreements (“tax treaties”) are meant to resolve this question and avoid taxing the same income twice. But under tax treaties signed without proper consideration for mining, governments can end up collecting substantially less revenue from the sector than under their domestic law. As such, the IGF’s new practice note is designed to help resource-rich governments protect their right to tax mining income while negotiating (or renegotiating) tax treaties.
The IGF supports more than 75 member nations committed to leveraging mining for sustainable development to ensure negative impacts are limited and financial benefits are shared. It is devoted to optimizing the benefits of mining to achieve poverty reduction, inclusive growth, social development, and environmental stewardship. The International Institute for Sustainable Development has served as Secretariat for the IGF since October 2015. Core funding is provided by the governments of Canada and the Netherlands.