Post Implementation Review – Department of the Treasury
As part of the 2011-12 Budget, the then Government announced the Minerals Resource Rent Tax (MRRT) and a number of related tax measures. The MRRT was a profits tax levied at an effective rate of 22.5 per cent of mining profits over $75 million for coal and mining projects within Australia. Two of the related measures included in the package of tax reforms were the immediate write‑off of geothermal exploration expenses and accelerated depreciation for motor vehicles. These three proposals were assessed by the Office of Best Practice Regulation (OBPR) as likely to have a measurable impact on the economy and therefore should have been subject to the preparation of a Regulation Impact Statement (RIS). However, the then Prime Minister granted exceptional circumstances to the proposals which exempted the Treasury from the requirement to prepare a RIS. Consequently, a Post Implementation Review (PIR) was required to be undertaken for these regulations in line with the Government’s best practice regulation guidelines. The proposals were implemented in July 2012. In 2013, in preparation for the repeal of the MRRT and related measures, the Treasury undertook a review of the appropriateness, effectiveness and efficiency of these regulations in the form of a RIS. The RIS was assessed as compliant with the RIS requirements by the OBPR. In order to meet the Government’s PIR requirements for the three proposals, in October 2014 the Treasury certified that the analysis in the RIS satisfied the requirements of the PIR, which is consistent with the Government’s Guide to Regulation. This certification process was assessed as compliant by the OBPR.
