Optimal taxes rates for copper mining in Chile

Abstract

In Chile there are strong societal demands. However, there exists a lack of scholarly research regarding possible sources of fiscal revenue for social investment. This paper proposes taxes on multinational mining companies that would allow to transfer to the state their above-normal returns. Additionally, this work estimates the value of these profits. Both estimates use the net present value method to represent the profitability of an average copper mining project. The results were tested using varying copper prices and other model parameters.