Interpac Business and Migration Solutions Melbourne Australia

(July 15,2010)

FEDERAL Treasurer Wayne Swan has admitted the Government's dumped super profits tax would have slugged the mining sector $24 billion, double the amount Treasury originally estimated in May.

But he reiterated it was the Government's intention only ever to raise $12 billion.

Mr Swan defended new Treasury figures, which he released yesterday, showing the revenue impact of the resource super profits tax had been greatly underestimated.

The figures also revealed the Government had given the industry $7.5 billion in concessions as it negotiated a new minerals resource rent tax.

The new tax will raise $10.5 billion in its first two years on the back of revised estimates for commodity prices and production.

Mr Swan dismissed as "hypothetical" suggestions the super profits tax would have raised double the amount originally estimated.

"It was never the Government's intention to raise a lot more money than $12 billion," he told ABC Radio.

But when asked whether the tax would have raised twice as much, Mr Swan said: "On the new (commodity) prices, that is true."

"But the fact is that we didn't set out to raise twice as much as we put before the Australian people," Mr Swan said. "We didn't set out to do that."

The Government was raising a "reasonable" amount of money from the new tax.

（Source:news.com.au）