The Australian Taxation Office has issued a further tax bill to Rio Tinto in relation to the mining giant’s interest deductions on a loan it took out in 2015.
Rio – which paid $8.4 billion in tax for that period – told the market the borrowing was used to pay an intragroup dividend and was repaid in 2018.
It said the ATO has issued the company with a further $352 million tax bill on the transaction and reduced the original interest assessment from $47 million to $27 million.
Rio said borrowing to fund a dividend payment was a normal commercial practice, and that it would dispute both the primary tax and penalty assessments.
It has paid half of the tax bill – as part of the objections process – while the penalties and interest re not required to be paid until the matter is resolved.
Rio closed down 0.9 per cent today to trade at $103.67 a share.
