Indian conglomerate Adani has achieved what many taxpayers only dream of: generating nearly $1bn in revenue from its Queensland coalmine while paying precisely zero company tax. According to financial accounts, the Carmichael thermal coal operations cleverly offset its $963.5m revenue with hefty costs - including production and 'related party logistics expenses' - resulting in a recorded $340.6m loss for the 12 months to 31 March. A loss, as any accountant will tell you, means no tax bill. It's the kind of financial alchemy that would make a magician blush.

Guardian Australia's analysis reveals this isn't a one-off trick: the mining project has never paid corporate tax since opening in 2021, despite Adani's past promises that it would shower the economy with billions in taxes and royalties. The company did fork out $58m in royalties - payments to the government for extracting state-owned minerals - and also paid $33.1m to a related party. Because nothing says 'arm's length transaction' like paying yourself to reduce your taxable income.

Tim Buckley, a former investment banker and director of Climate Energy Finance, called it a perfect example of why Australia needs rules to stop foreign entities from structuring themselves into tax oblivion. 'This is a perfect example of why Australia needs new rules that ensure foreign entities have a sensible capital structure,' he said, presumably while shaking his head at the sheer audacity.

The project, located in central Queensland's Galilee Basin, was never short of controversy. Environmentalists objected to opening a new thermal coal frontier, while industry cheerleaders claimed it would fund schools, hospitals, and infrastructure for 'almost a century' through taxes and royalties. The reality, it seems, is more of a 'maybe a few decades of nothing' situation.

An Adani Mining spokesperson defended the company, noting the project employs over 1,400 Queenslanders. 'We comply fully with our state and commonwealth taxation and royalty obligations and our statutory profit and tax outcomes are determined in accordance with Australian accounting standards and the corporations act,' they said, in what is surely the most thrilling sentence ever uttered about accounting standards.

Timing, as always, was on Adani's side. The Carmichael operations opened during a coal boom, with Russia's invasion of Ukraine sending energy prices soaring in 2022. Coal prices remain buoyed by Middle East conflicts, so it's not like the mine is struggling - it just prefers to look poor on paper.

And the tax avoidance isn't confined to the mine. The Adani-controlled Abbot Point port business, North Queensland Export Terminal, also dodged company tax despite earning $356.6m, thanks to operating expenses that produced a $6.8m loss. Terminal CEO Mark Smith said accounts were prepared in accordance with Australian accounting standards and 'reflect the capital-intensive nature of owning and operating major export infrastructure.' Translation: we have lots of expensive stuff, so we're technically poor. It's a bold strategy, and it's working.