| Part of a series on |
| Taxation |
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| An aspect of fiscal policy |
Mining taxation refers to the taxes that apply to mining. It is often assumed that the taxating country aims towards a combination of high production and high taxes and thus the problem of mining taxation is that of achieving both. [1] Countries have tended to compete with low or favourable taxation to attract mining investment that in turn generate a taxation base. [2] It has been noted that in the last decade of the 20th century taxation methods and levels tended to became more uniform across countries in thew world. [3] It is generally though that investment in mining activity is riskier than other types of business and this has led many countries to implement tax incentives. [4] Some of these incentives target taxation discounts related to mineral exploration and mine development, the first one carrying a lot of uncertainty and the second being usually a very costly investment. [4] Other areas targeted for tax discounts are machinery importation, relaxed or lack of export tariffs and tax benefits aiming to mitigate schocks from commodity price cycles. [5] Various countries such as Ecuador, Tanzania and the Philippines apply as of 2023 a policy of taxating profit. [6]
Historically and up to the present some states have sought increased earnings through state-owned mining companies (e.g. Codelco) rather than restricting their mining income to taxation. [7]