Adani to pay no company tax despite $1bn revenue from Queensland coalmine
Indian conglomerate offsets earnings from Carmichael mine to report $340.6m loss, after promising billions in taxes and royalties
Indian conglomerate Adani will pay no company tax despite generating almost $1bn in revenue from coal mining in Queensland over the past year.
Financial accounts show the Carmichael thermal coal operations used large costs – including production and related party logistics expenses – to offset its $963.5m revenue in the 12 months to 31 March. This resulted in a recorded $340.6m loss for the year, erasing its tax bill.
Guardian Australia analysis of company accounts shows the mining project has never paid corporate tax after opening in 2021, despite past pledges by Adani that the operations would plough billions of dollars in taxes and royalties into the economy.
Adani Mining’s accounts show that it paid $58m in royalties in the 12-month period. Royalties are payments made to governments to extract state-owned minerals. Adani also paid a $33.1m royalty to a related party.
Tim Buckley, a former investment banker and the director of Climate Energy Finance, said the company was structured so that it wouldn’t pay corporate tax in Australia.
“This is a perfect example of why Australia needs new rules that ensure foreign entities have a sensible capital structure,” said Buckley, who advocates for changes that would limit the amount of deductions a business can make to reduce tax.
Adani’s project approval in central Queensland’s Galilee Basin was fiercely contested, opening a new jurisdiction of thermal coal extraction that raised environmental concerns.