A Papua New Guinea court has found Rio Tinto majority owned Bougainville Copper Limited (BCL) must pay the PNG tax office 50 million kina (A$22 million) in taxes, penalties and interest under ‘pay now, litigate later’ tax laws. A BCL spokesman told AAP it would appeal the decision handed down earlier this month that retrospectively assessed BCL’s tax bill since the forced closure of their mine during an armed insurrection in 1989.
See http://news.theage.com.au/breaking-news-world/bougainville-copper-hit-by-22m-tax-bill-20090828-f297.html.