The new Québec mining tax regime was announced on May 6th 2013, by the Minister of Finance, Nicolas Marceau, accompanied by the Minister of Natural Resources, Martine Ouellet.
The Québec Government has presented a new regime under which all mine operators in Québec will have to pay a minimum mining tax.
The mining corporation will be required to pay the greater of two amounts, either a minimum mining tax on ore extracted or a mining tax on annual profit for a fiscal year starting after December 31, 2013.
- The minimum royalty rate is set at 1% for the first $80 million of ore extracted and at 4% of the value of ore extracted in excess of $80 million, these rates being applied to the output value of the ore at the mine shaft head.
- The mining tax on profit will be calculated according to a progressive rate structure. The new tax rates to be applied will be 16%, 22% or 28% depending on profit margin, the Government having provided for three segments of profit margin (from 0% to 35%, from 35% to 50% and from 50% to 100%).
Minister Marceau also stressed the importance of jobs in Québec for processing activities, and therefore has added incentives in the new tax regime in an effort to increase processing in Québec.
Minister Ouellet spoke briefly about the future Mining Act and indicated that this new mining tax regime has been developed in order to be more transparent and in the context of more responsible development of mining resources.
The details relating to the newly announced mining tax regime may be found in the following documents which have been made available by the Government:
- In English
- Press Release: http://www.finances.gouv.qc.ca/documents/Communiques/en/COMEN_20130506.pdf
- Full document: http://www.finances.gouv.qc.ca/documents/autres/en/AUTEN_NewMiningTaxRegime.pdf
- Charts: http://www.finances.gouv.qc.ca/documents/autres/en/AUTENCharts_MiningTaxRegime.pdf
- Information bulletin: http://www.finances.gouv.qc.ca/documents/bulletins/en/BULEN_2013-4-a-b.pdf
- In French
- Communiqué de presse: http://www.finances.gouv.qc.ca/documents/Communiques/fr/COMFR_20130506.pdf
- Document complet: http://www.finances.gouv.qc.ca/documents/Autres/fr/AUTFR_NouveauRegimeImpotMinier.pdf
- Graphiques: http://www.finances.gouv.qc.ca/documents/Autres/fr/AUTFRGraph_RImpotMinier.pdf
- Bulletin d'information: http://www.finances.gouv.qc.ca/documents/bulletins/fr/BULFR_2013-4-f-b.pdf
For more information, visit our Securities Mining Law blog at www.securitiesmininglaw.com
About Dentons
Dentons is a global firm driven to provide you with the competitive edge in an increasingly complex and interconnected marketplace. We were formed by the March 2013 combination of international law firm Salans LLP, Canadian law firm Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP (FMC) and international law firm SNR Denton.
Dentons is built on the solid foundations of three highly regarded law firms. Each built its outstanding reputation and valued clientele by responding to the local, regional and national needs of a broad spectrum of clients of all sizes – individuals; entrepreneurs; small businesses and start-ups; local, regional and national governments and government agencies; and mid-sized and larger private and public corporations, including international and global entities.
Now clients benefit from more than 2,500 lawyers and professionals in 79 locations in 52 countries across Africa, Asia Pacific, Canada, Central Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Russia and the CIS, the UK and the US who are committed to challenging the status quo to offer creative, actionable business and legal solutions.
Learn more at www.dentons.com
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances. Specific Questions relating to this article should be addressed directly to the author.
