经济学家呼吁改革澳大利亚天然气税收制度

经济学家Richard Denniss在其著作《More Fool Me》中主张对澳大利亚天然气出口征收25%的税1。Denniss的提议旨在应对现行石油资源租税(PRRT)制度存在的低效问题。根据数据，澳大利亚离岸石油公司在PRRT系统下累计有约282亿澳元的待结转支出1。

现行PRRT制度允许公司在缴税前将资本和运营成本从天然气收入中扣除1。评论指出，虽然Denniss关于改革的主要观点有效，但建立传统的特许权使用费系统可能比出口税更为有效1。沙特阿拉伯、挪威和卡塔尔等国采用的是政府参与股权基础的天然气税收系统1。西澳大利亚提取的15%天然气保留给该州消费者和商业使用1。

Economist Richard Denniss has advocated for imposing a 25 percent export tax on Australian natural gas in his work More Fool Me, citing fundamental shortcomings in the current Petroleum Resource Rent Tax (PRRT) system.1 Under the existing framework, offshore oil and gas companies have accumulated approximately AUD 28.2 billion in carried-forward expenditures that reduce their tax liabilities.1 The current PRRT allows firms to deduct both capital and operating costs from gas revenues before calculating tax obligations.1

While Denniss's core argument identifies real policy failures, adopting a traditional royalty system could prove more effective than an export tax approach.1 Countries including Saudi Arabia, Norway, and Qatar have implemented government equity-based taxation systems for natural gas that differ significantly from Australia's current model.1 Additionally, Western Australia retains 15 percent of extracted natural gas for state consumption and business use.1 A 2017 Callaghan Report highlighted political failures within Australia's gas taxation framework,1 underscoring the urgency for reform that could better serve national fiscal and energy interests.