JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – With the global tendency towards more-stringent transparency regulations, mining companies must do more to garner the public’s support in the countries in which they operate.

This is according to Deloitte Global’s ‘The future of tax in mining: the evolving global landscape’ report, which explores how mining companies can navigate a rapidly changing, and increasingly complex tax environment by embracing digital technologies, revamping their structures and processes, and rethinking how they interact with revenue authorities and governments, as well as how they communicate with taxpayers.

“Mining companies have arguably led the way in reporting their tax payments and other economic contributions to countries long before such disclosures were mandatory,” Deloitte Global mining tax leader James Ferguson said in a statement.

He pointed out, however, that, despite transparency efforts and the industry’s significant contribution to the world’s economy, the mining industry still struggles with a negative public perception.

“Ultimately, mining companies have to be proactive in convincing the people in the countries in which they operate that they are significantly contributing to the economy. This means finding ways to distil their responses to often complex tax and disclosure rules into simple, understandable statements,” he noted.

The report highlights that if disruptive technologies are adopted by tax authorities or corporate taxpayers, they can potentially and fundamentally change the way things are done.

“Disruptive technologies are changing the way data is collected, processed and understood, and this opens up a world of opportunities for tax groups to eliminate tedious manual activities and create more value for the business,” the report says.

It also notes that, to stem the proliferation of red tape and mitigate ever tougher government measures, mining companies must find their voice in articulating their contributions to the local and national economies in which they operate.