Australian oil and gas exploration: the dawn of a new fiscal regime?
The ever-evolving Australian tax landscape has brought particular attention to the scope of exploration activities in the oil and gas industry in recent times. While recent developments have attempted to shed light on the interpretation of œexploration expenditure, the narrow view adopted has raised more questions than answers, which may significantly impact the after-tax economics of projects in the oil and gas industry. Examples include: the recent AAT decision in the ZZGN case and the commissioner’s views set out in the draft taxation ruling TR 2013/D4 on the scope of deductible exploration expenditure in the PRRT context; and, the then Labor-led federal government’s proposed changes in the 2013–14 federal budget to limit an upfront deduction on œgenuine exploration activities for income tax purposes, which would have a far-reaching impact. Broadly, the recent reforms seek to limit the application of the exploration expenditure deductibility rules to the technical analytical work undertaken to evaluate/appraise the resource and expenditure incurred in direct relationship with said technical work. This presents various tax technical, commercial and practical issues that signal a new dawn in the approach to exploration expenditure for participants in the oil and gas industry. This extended abstract analyses the recent reforms and their impact on the oil and gas sector, provides an outlook of the new direction of potential fiscal change, and assesses what this might mean for the Australian oil and gas industry.