Fed: Native title costs should be tax deductible: ABARE

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Fed: Native title costs should be tax deductible: ABARE

The nation's chief commodity forecaster says native title costs should be made taxdeductible to arrest a sharp fall in Australian mining exploration.

In a report on mineral exploration activity, the Australian Bureau of Agriculturaland Resource Economics says spending on exploration has fallen almost 50 per cent since1996/97.

The spending is down to $623 million from $1.2 billion.

ABARE says one of the main reasons for the fall is the uncertainty caused by nativetitle claims over prime exploration areas.

It says although much of this has now been cleared up, there's still a considerablelag in exploration while mining companies are carrying significant costs.

ABARE says there needs to be a tax incentive for mining firms to help them ramp-uptheir levels of exploration.

The Bureau says native title costs are an unavoidable expense and, as a consequence,should be deductible together with other exploration costs.

AAP RTV sw/kjp/smb/rp

KEYWORD: MINING (CANBERRA)