With the government still hell bent on taxing the miners on whatbthey call, Super Profits, just what is a super profit.

There is a guy who goes out and values timber, mainly for the gas and power companies, so he can report back to them so they can work out compensation for effected land owners.

He has a car back pack, a can of paint, a tape, a GPS , computer, phone and a camera.

He makes, get this, $2375.00 PER DAY.

I know this as he has appraised my land.

His return on investment, 200 working days per year @2375= $475,000 per annum.

Investment, $100,000 tops. Annual return 200days per year, almost half a million.

Is this a super profit?

Then there are the banks, making billions on our money.

Are they super profits.

So what are super profits?

Superprofits are things that superannuation funds have no idea how to make, for a start.

But I do tend to agree that the notion of a 'super profit' is rather silly while all our governments continue to support very high salaries for CEOs and other individuals.

It was a typically low grade ALP throw back phrase to shop floor thinking.

Of course, the real problem is that we have a dodgy tax system that allows so many tax breaks, particularly for the wealthy and crafty, that allows them to weasel their way out of paying any/enough.

Instead of creating this silly concept, we should simply tax-without-escape those who earn income and profits, whatever they do.

A novel idea (for today) would be to have a progressive tax scale, more earned-more paid.

Someone earning a 'super' amount would pay a 'super' level of tax, whether they did the job you mention or run a mine, or run a milkbar, if that produced 'super' incomes.

How hard would that be?

Rudd and the ALP totally failed to sell this patch-up job and part of the problem was the very silly name they gave it.

Is Knlarmi still alive ask him or maybe Larry Pickering

A super profit works to ensure the owners of the resources share more fully in the largesse of the mining boom.

Why do you believe that the benefits of the mineral boom should not also be shared with the owners of the resources?

We are talking about large mining corps here not small mining companies, and getting value for money for resources.

No other business wholesaler would be content to sit back, in effect losing money, in the sector for which they supply the goods when everyone else in the chain is gaining more and more from the boom. That is business rehctub, from the primary source up.

The super profits tax is simply a way of sharing the benefits of the mining boom. We are talking SUPER profits here which still sees large mining companies making profits in the billions.

http://www.smh.com.au/business/bhp-profit-sparks-call-to-toughen-mining-tax-20110824-1jadw.html

KISS
define;..a super proffit
is anything over double the inflation rate
within the taxable season...not directly wage

ie other renumeration/gifts..bonus [income]

or any wage
that is more than 5 fold the worker average for that industry

or any industry..that has disparity
between their renumeration and the 'average wage'

ie only those abouve 'average wages'
most probably those getting over twice 'average wage'
or excessive 'income' return

we need a 'windfall bonus...tax'
and a transaction tax...capital gains tax

and a death duties tax..and a corperate tax..[that works to tax duties from dead corperations][who cant 'die'..

but who currently make life hell for the living...
wage slaves..peons..serfs..in their own god given land

we are all enjoined mortal heirs
of the erternal living good

[that we do did to the least
we do did tyo him]

Pelican, I understand and agree with everything you say.

But why not have a tax system that taxes properly in the first place.

Clearly, the states have trimmed off the 'profits' to 'we the people' in their usual race to the bottom, be that for timber or minerals, or landtax or death duties, so there is one area that should have been tightened up specifically for mining.

It still sounds really stupid- to be living in a capitalist (pretend) free market economy, where thieves are regarded as leaders and profits as gods to then be declaring there to be a 'super profit', unless you are the CEO who might tell the Board, 'We had a super year and with it a super profit' but I suspect that was not what Rudd had in mind.

By all means, tax profits, tax the theft of our minerals but be consistent.