Industry group: Peruvian miners will pay a record $3 billion in taxes this year

Peruvian mining companies will pay a record 12 billion soles ($3 billion) in taxes in 2021, more than double the amount they paid in 2019 before the outbreak, an industry group representing the interests of Peruvian miners said on Tuesday.

Peru is currently the world's second-largest copper producer, and mining is the country's main source of tax revenue.

As copper prices rise and Peru's local currency weakens, the country's miners earn more, as their exports are priced in dollars, leading to higher taxes.

Peru's miners paid about 4 billion soles in taxes in 2020 when production was limited by the novel coronavirus epidemic, compared with about 4.8 billion soles in 2019, Peru's national mining, oil and energy association (National Society for Mining, Petroleum and Energy) said in a statement.

Members of the Peruvian National Minerals, Oil and Energy Association include Anglo-American group (Anglo American), Southern Copper (Southern Copper Corp) and the Peruvian subsidiary of Barrick Gold.

The association expects the country's miners to pay an average of 17 billion soles of tax a year between 2022 and 2026, which will be higher than any other five-year average.

Peru's new left-wing government, led by President Pedro Castillo, is seeking to raise the country's mining tax, but has not made any specific proposals on the issue.

Lawmakers in neighboring Chile are also talking about raising mining taxes. Chile is the world's largest copper producer.

Peru's current tax system is "considered by international and domestic experts to be a good tax system," the Peruvian National Minerals, Oil and Energy Association said in a statement.

The Peruvian Ministry of economy said that according to preliminary estimates, Peru's overall tax revenue will increase by 24% in 2021 compared with 2020, and is expected to increase by a further 8% in 2022.