MINING TAX POLICY RESPONSES TO COVID-19: Key points for policy makers

The document outlines a framework for governments to assess the need for mining tax relief, identify eligible companies, set conditions for support, and select appropriate short-term tax relief options while avoiding ineffective measures.

• Governments should determine whether to apply tax relief to the entire mining sector or only to specific companies based on whether the crisis affected the sector uniformly and whether certain companies remained profitable.
• Tax relief should be targeted at companies in severe financial distress that risk closing operations or laying off workers, specifically those with negative project cash flows for over a year, sharp drops in commodity prices, or an inability to meet tax and debt obligations.
• Financial support for mining companies should be conditional upon the retention of workers at regular salaries, the cancellation of shareholder dividends (excluding government equity), the withholding of executive bonuses, and the abandonment of artificial tax avoidance arrangements.
• Recommended short-term tax relief options include the deferral of payroll taxes, speeding up VAT refunds, exempting import duties for COVID-19 supplies and critical operational items, providing tax credits for health-related expenditure, and using royalty waivers as a last resort.
• Policy makers are advised to avoid income tax holidays, as these are only useful for profitable companies that should not require relief, and withholding tax relief, as these taxes are critical for revenue collection in developing countries.

APA

International Institute for Sustainable Development (2020). MINING TAX POLICY RESPONSES TO COVID-19: Key points for policy makers. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/mining-tax-policy-covid-19-key-points-en.pdf

Chicago

International Institute for Sustainable Development. MINING TAX POLICY RESPONSES TO COVID-19: Key points for policy makers. 2020. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/mining-tax-policy-covid-19-key-points-en.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=International Institute for Sustainable Development |title=MINING TAX POLICY RESPONSES TO COVID-19: Key points for policy makers |date=2020 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/mining-tax-policy-covid-19-key-points-en.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{internationalinstituteforsustainabledevelopment2020mining, author = {{International Institute for Sustainable Development}}, title = {{MINING TAX POLICY RESPONSES TO COVID-19: Key points for policy makers}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2020}, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/mining-tax-policy-covid-19-key-points-en.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }