Rio Tinto Group (NYSE: RIO) gave a statement on the modified Australian Tax Bills. The firm has disclosed that it has decided to fight over amended Australian Tax bills and is confident that it is in a strong position to defend its stance. Shares of Rio Tinto surged 1.67% as it gained +1.50 at the time of writing on Tuesday.
Furthermore, The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has provided Rio Tinto Limited with revised evaluations of A$359.4m (US$279.8m) primary tax and A$47.1m (US$36.7m) of interest. This is in addition to the more than A$8.4bn (US$6.4bn) of Australian income tax which has been paid during the corresponding period.
The evaluations involve the rejection of interest withdrawals on an alone borrowing used to pay an intercompany dividend in 2015. These loans were refunded in 2018. Loans to finance the payment of a dividend is a typical business practice. Rio Tinto has the last closing price of $91.34 with an average volume of 1.26 million at the time of writing.
Shares of Rio Tinto fluctuated $35.35 from its 52-week low and $92.85 from its 52-week high. Its share has surged 158.13% from its 52-week low and plunged -1.72% from its 52-week high. The market capitalization of RIO is $156.55 billion at the time of writing. In compliance with the usual practice, Rio Tinto has decided to give 50% of the primary tax up-front as part of the complaints process.