The information was revealed in responses lodged by BHP to questions that were taken on notice during the Senate inquiry into corporate tax avoidance in April.

The company pays no Australian tax on the 42 per cent of its profit that is channelled through so-called "marketing hubs" in low-taxing jurisdictions such as Singapore, a strategy allowed under current global tax rules.

At the Senate inquiry's Melbourne hearing last month, BHP, along with rivals Rio Tinto and Glencore, faced intense questioning and revealed that it was being audited by the Australian Taxation office over the activities of its Singapore marketing hub.

Marketing hubs established by the major miners allow commodities dug up in Australia, such as iron ore and coal, to be "sold" to the companies' own operations in countries like Singapore before they are subsequently sold, with a hefty mark-up, to China and other nations.

As a result, billions of dollars in sales is taxed at Singapore's tax rate - which with a range of incentives on offer from the island nation has been reduced to zero in the case of BHP – rather than at Australia's higher 30 per cent corporate tax rate.

BHP's latest statement, released publicly on Monday, revealed the company paid $4.1 billion in corporate tax in Australia in 2014.

This was on revenue of $46.2 billion, profit of $16.2 billion and taxable income of $14.4 billion.

But these figures do not take account of R&D tax concessions and withholding tax, which the company can legally use to lower its local tax bills, and thereby may not represent the full tax picture.

Nevertheless, it's more than the miner has previously revealed about the tax it pays on its local operations.

At the Melbourne hearing last month BHP corporate affairs president Tony Cudmore said the group paid $8.7 billion in tax and royalties last year, which equated to an effective tax rate of more than 45 per cent. It said this included $4.9 billion in Australian income tax.

The $4.1 billion Australian income tax figure revealed in the latest statement is $800 million less than originally reported.

But the difference relates to the way tax is reported in financial statements as compared to the way it is reported on tax returns.

BHP also details "related party dealings" with nations overseas. A total of $34.3 billion was exchanged with "related parties" in 53 countries in 2014. Most of it ($31.9 billion) was for commodities such as coal, copper and iron ore sold by the miner.

Singapore was the most common destination, accounting for $31.2 billion in related party transactions

Next most popular was the United Kingdom, where it BHP had related party transactions worth $1.4 billion, followed by Switzerland, where it had $738 million in dealings.

Its statement also shows that BHP Billiton has its insurance operations domiciled in Guernsey, a hot spot for in-house insurance companies used by major companies worldwide.

BHP said its centralised marketing organisation was headquartered in Singapore and that other "marketing activities" took place in other locations that are close to its customers or operations.

"This ensures we are able to meet our customers' needs and understand the markets that underpin our business," it said in the statement.

Miners have claimed the Singapore marketing hubs help enhance their products, which are then shipped to China. But the ATO is questioning the amount of money flowing through these hubs.

BHP Billiton said 65 per cent of its sales were in Asia and the company employed 400 people in the Singapore marketing organisation. The remaining 42 per cent is attributed to the UK, through its listed company BHP Billiton Plc, and it thereby pays no tax at all.

Between 2006 and 2014, the company booked profits of $US5.7 billion in Singapore. It paid just $US121,000 in tax in Singapore – $US15,000 a year – thanks to a range of incentives given to it by Singapore's government for locating its marketing hub there. Its latest statement shows that it paid A$945 million of tax in Australia on the profit of its Singapore branch (BHP Billiton Marketing AG) for the period.

Tax Commissioner Chris Jordan has said as well as auditing BHP on tax returns going five years back, the company was disputing amended assessments "in the order of multiple hundreds of millions of dollars arising from previous Singapore hub activity."

During the Senate inquiry's Melbourne hearing, Mr Cudmore cited commercial sensitivity for not revealing figures for its Singapore operations.

But then BHP was forced to respond in writing, and later revealed how it's been hit with a $522 million tax bill for its Singapore marketing operations. Of the $522 million, $221 million is penalties for alleged tax avoidance.

"The Singapore marketing organisation is owned 58 per cent by BHP Billiton Limited, with the balance being owned by BHP Billiton Plc," the company said in its latest statement to the inquiry.

"This ownership split represents the original merger ratio between BHP and Billiton. Therefore 58 per cent of the profit that the Singapore organisation makes from selling and delivering commodities to customers which it has purchased from Australian entities owned by BHP Billiton Limited is also subject to Australian tax."

That means, 42 per cent is not taxed at all, because of the way current global tax rules are structured. The OECD is looking to change this.