Rio Tinto Asked to Pay A$447 Million More in Australian Taxes

(Bloomberg) -- The Australian Commissioner of Taxation has demanded an additional A$447 million ($339 million) in taxes from Rio Tinto Group.

The payment request comes after the commissioner issued amended income tax assessments for 2010 to 2013, according to a statement from London-based Rio, the world's second-biggest miner. Rio said it will challenge the assessments, but will pay 50 percent of the total this month.

“The issue in dispute is the pricing of certain transactions between Rio Tinto entities based in Australia and the Group's commercial center in Singapore,” the company said. “Rio Tinto voluntarily approached the ATO more than a decade ago seeking to confirm its pricing arrangements.”

The tax review doesn't relate to any tax avoidance schemes and there are no penalties payable, Rio said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jesse Riseborough in London at jriseborough@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Lynn Thomasson at lthomasson@bloomberg.net, Tony Barrett

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