The Australian Taxation Office has issued updated guidance on the Critical Minerals Production Tax Incentive, a 10% refundable tax offset available from 2027 designed to boost domestic processing of 31 critical minerals — a key pillar of the government's broader Future Made in Australia push toward a net zero economy.
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has released updated guidance on how to claim the Critical Minerals Production Tax Incentive (CMPTI) on 3 March 2026.
In the 2024–25 Budget, the Australian Government announced its Future Made in Australia package. This package includes support for investment in critical minerals processing in Australia through the Critical Minerals Production Tax Incentive (CMPTI). This measure is now law.
The CMPTI provides eligible recipients with a refundable tax offset of 10% of the eligible costs of processing certain critical minerals in Australia. The offset will be available between 1 July 2027 and 30 June 2040, for a maximum of 10 years.
Administration
The Department of Industry, Science and Resources (DISR) and the ATO jointly administer the CMPTI:
- The Industry Secretary (DISR) registers the CMPTI processing activities.
- ATO administers the CMPTI tax offset claimed on the company tax return.
Eligibility
Eligibility for the CMPTI tax offset in an income year requires that the company:
- is a constitutional corporation conducting a registered processing activity during the year
- incurs certain expenditure in carrying on the processing activity
- meets the residency requirement.
The company must be an Australian tax resident, or a foreign resident carrying on the processing activity via a permanent establishment in Australia, and it has an ABN, for the income year.
The company will also have to comply with any rules implementing the community benefit principles for the CMPTI made by the Treasurer.
Critical minerals list
For the purposes of the CMPTI tax offset, a critical mineral is a thing included in the list specified in the legislation or prescribed in the regulations. There are 31 critical minerals listed in the legislation. See Australia’s Critical Minerals List on the DISR website.
CMPTI processing activities
CMPTI processing activities are processing activities carried on at one or more facilities in Australia that:
- involve substantially transforming a feedstock that contains a critical mineral into a purer or more refined form of the critical mineral that is chemically distinct from the feedstock, and a substantial purpose for carrying on the activity is to achieve this transformation, or
- are specified in the regulations as producing an outcome in relation to one or more critical minerals.
Certain activities, such as mining, beneficiation and manufacturing are excluded from being CMPTI processing activities.
Note: The Income Tax Assessment (1997 Act) Amendment (Critical Minerals) Regulations 2025 outlines certain critical minerals processing activities that are intended to be eligible for the CMPTI but would not meet the general test set out in the legislation. The legislative instrument allows the processing of high purity alumina, graphite and critical mineral-containing precursor cathode active materials to be eligible processing activities.
