The hidden face behind the payment of mining debts

So far this year, three large companies in the mining sector have paid their debts with the State, totaling approximately S / 4,000 million.

In detail, the Buenaventura mining company canceled a debt for more than S / 2,314 million, followed by Cerro Verde with S / 1,040 million and MMG Limited (Las Bambas parent company) for S / 685 million.

In that line, from the call recently reported that the recovery of the debt stock exceeded S / 6,500 million, which made it possible to exceed the annual amounts reached so far.

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They take advantage of the weak sun

According to the economist José de Echave, the central factor behind the increase in mining taxation is the increase in metal prices that has been observed for some time now.

However, the UNMSM researcher Jorge Manco Zaconetti He adds that this payment responds to the psychology of large companies of maximizing their profits and paying less taxes to await the exact moment when the Peruvian sol has weakened.

“This is good because it represents a (higher) income (…) but there is an important saving for companies due to the difference in the exchange rate. Between the three, I estimate that more than 150 million dollars have been safely saved ”, explained for this newspaper.

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It is necessary to emphasize that these companies pay under protest while the litigation continues its judicial process in the Tax Court and await a reversal – be it partial or total – of the money deposited with the treasury.

Shelter yourself in the reform

The Minister of Economy, Pedro FranckeHe stressed that they are going to insist on dialogue regarding the tax reform presented to Congress to increase collection and “speed up the collection of taxes for those who take 20 years claiming the Judiciary.”

In that sense, he argued that it seeks to improve the management of tax litigation, where clarity of the petition will be required in the appeals and rules to avoid the coexistence of procedures on the same matter, among others.

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De Echave adds that another key factor in the reform is to raise the rates for mining surpluses, since for this year companies are expected to have extraordinary income of US $ 13.6 billion.

“The mining sector is contributing more, but that does not mean that it is paying everything it should. The State, which is the owner of the non-renewable natural resource, has the legitimate right to capture a greater percentage of that mining income, ”it says.

Finally, it is worth clarifying that said package prepared by the MEF with the International Monetary FundAccording to Francke, it will have rates that do not affect mining competitiveness despite helping with the tax part.

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Watch out for mining returns

I miss Zaconetti warns that a chapter that should not be omitted in the tax reform is that of tax refunds, given that there have been years – as in 2016 – in which mining companies received more than they contributed to the treasury: S / 4,307 million in tax revenues against S / 5,889 million returned.

At their discretion, the repayment period should be extended so as not to suffer tax revenues; added to the criteria that are applied, since 70% of mining commercial relationships are between parent companies and subsidiaries “And it does not make sense to return VAT to parent companies based in tax havens”, argues the specialist.

The data

Amount. According to information collected by the portal Public Eye, the 99 main companies that maintain tax disputes owe S / 28,897 million, a figure that exceeds the budget for health.