President John Pombe Magufuli has been on his crusade that mining companies that have been working in Tanzania have been ripping off the country, mainly by under-declaring the true worth of what they take out of the country
Tanzania has slapped Acacia Mining with a $190 billion tax bill,
potentially escalating the dispute over royalties the government says
it is owed.
The firm said it received a notice on the
tax bill Monday from the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) for historical
corporate income tax, covering the last 17 years.
TRA
claims Acacia, the biggest gold miner in the country, owes the
government $154 billion from its Bulyanhulu mine and $36 billion from
Buzwagi.
The government said the miner owes $40 billion in unpaid taxes and $150 billion in penalties and interest.
The London-listed company however disputes the assessments.
“The
assessments are issued in respect of alleged under-declared export
revenues, and appear to follow on from the findings of the First
Presidential Committee announced on 24 May 2017 and the Second
Presidential Committee announced on 12 June 2017. As we have stated
previously, Acacia refutes each set of findings and re-iterates that it
has fully declared all revenues,” it said.
Acacia has referred the disputes for international arbitration.
Last
week, President John Magufuli threatened to shut down all gold mines in
Tanzania if the mining firms fail to resolve the tax disputes.
In response to the tax bill, the Barrick Gold-owned company said it is considering all of its options.
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