The government’s proposed Exploration Development Incentive was confirmed in the 2014 Budget.

The Federal government proposes to provide $100 million over the next three years ($25, $35, $40 million) to further stimulate investor and exploration company activity by enabling investors to deduct the expense of minerals and energy exploration against their taxable income.

The Exploration Development Incentive was described in a discussion paper released by Treasury in March 2014 that provided an opportunity for interested groups to provide feedback to government regarding the proposal, where AIG supported the proposal made by the Association of Mining and Exploration Companies (AMEC) who have strongly advocated the introduction of the incentive for a number of years.  The proposal was also supported by a number of exploration and mining industry groups including SACOME and the Minerals Council of Australia.