You are required to keep records that record and explain all transactions and other acts that are relevant for determining your petroleum resource rent tax (PRRT) liability for each project interest you hold.
If you hold interests in exploration permits and retention leases, you should also keep records to meet future PRRT obligations.
Types of records to keep
If you hold an interest in a petroleum project, exploration permit or retention lease you should ensure that you keep records that are in writing in English, or readily accessible and convertible into writing in English, so as to enable your liability under the PRRT legislation to be ascertained.
Examples of the types of records that may assist in explaining transactions include:
- contracts
- agreements
- lifting schedules
- billing statements
- invoices
- financial statements.
Deductible expenditure records, where applicable, must include transaction details that distinguish between:
- Class 2 uplifted general expenditure incurred post 30 June 2019 and expenditure incurred as class 2 ABR general expenditure prior to 1 July 2019
- Class 2 uplifted exploration expenditure incurred post 30 June 2019 and expenditure incurred as class 2 ABR exploration expenditure prior to 1 July 2019
- Class 2 GDP factor expenditure incurred post 30 June 2019 and expenditure incurred prior to 1 July 2019, and
- the periods in respect of which different uplift rates apply.
Record retention periods
Records must be retained for a period of seven years or longer after the completion of the transactions or acts to which they relate.
It is often the case for PRRT that there are many years between expenditure being incurred and that expenditure being claimed. Records of such expenditure need to be retained for PRRT purposes for periods that are generally much longer than the retention periods applicable to records for other transactions.
Joint venture record keeping requirements
If you hold an interest in a petroleum project, exploration permit or retention lease under a joint venture arrangement, you are required to maintain records about your individual interest.
Both, operators and non-operators in a joint venture arrangement are required to meet the same PRRT record keeping obligations as other taxpayers.
See also:
Maintaining detailed records of all relevant transactions and other acts will ensure that taxpayers can claim all their deductions and not pay more petroleum resource rent tax (PRRT) than they need to.