Budget 2013: Carbon tax and mining tax take $14bn hit The carbon and mining taxes - have taken a $13.8b hit in write-downs. AFP PHOTO Source: PerthNow TWO of the Gillard Government's most controversial reforms - the carbon and mining taxes - have taken a $13.8 billion hit in write-downs as slower economic conditions punched a hole in tax revenues. A combination of falling commodity prices and lower mining profits has forced the Government to revise down its projected mining tax revenues to just $3.3bn for the four years to 2015/16 - a dramatic fall from the $13.4bn forecast by Treasury a year ago. And the dramatic fall in European carbon markets has also seen the Government slice $3.7bn from projected carbon tax cash receipts, compared to mid-year economic forecasts released last October. With the big fall in commodity prices causing lower profitability, the mining tax is now forecast to raise just $200 million in net receipts this financial year, compared with an estimated $3bn in last year's Budget. According to Treasury, the big miners whose profits contribute to the mining tax will pay $700 million in 2013/14, rising to $1bn the following year and reaching $1.4bn by 2015/16. A year ago, Treasury forecast the mining tax would contribute $13.4bn over four years, but yesterday's Budget papers have revised this down to $3.3bn over the same period. Treasury officials say the mining tax is expected to grow in future years as mining companies move from exploration to production phases for their investments, generating more profits and helping to fill Commonwealth coffers. The fall in carbon tax receipts has been flagged by the Government and follows a dramatic slump in the price of carbon across Europe. Less than a year after it came into effect, the carbon tax has been revised down more than 50 per cent to a projected $12 per tonne in 2015/16 - when a flexible "cap and trade" scheme is due to come into effect. The Government announced last year that its carbon tax scheme will be linked with Europe's greenhouse framework from July 1, 2015 - although Tony Abbott has promised to repeal the carbon tax as his highest priority if he wins office in September. "As a result of the lower projected carbon price, cash receipts from carbon permits are expected to be around $3.7bn lower over the four years to 2015/16 when compared to the 2012/13 (mid-year economic forecasts)," the Budget papers said. But the hit to the Budget will be "partially offset" by changes to programs including the Government's previously announced decision to defer additional tax cuts "until the carbon price is projected to be above $25.40 in the Budget." Climate Change Minister Greg Combet said the "net" impact of the lower-than-forecast carbon tax receipts would be "approximately" $1bn, but he was adamant that the flagship climate scheme "package holds together." He explained that the fall in projected cash receipts was because carbon permits were purchased in advance of the "cap and trade" scheme coming into effect in mid-2015.