Rio Tinto fights $447 million tax bill

Rio Tinto has announced it will fight a $447 million tax bill the ATO issued to the company last week.

The company has stated that the assessment was not in relation to any tax avoidance, but rather linked to what is known as “transfer pricing” between Rio Tinto’s Australian operations and its Singapore office.

The amount includes A$379 million plus interest of A$68 million, and the practice of “transfer pricing” allows firms to move profits to low taxing countries. It is a common form of legal tax avoidance used by resources companies.