NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release 2010PREM0009-000043 Jan. 21, 2010

Office of the Premier

 

PROPOSED TAX CREDIT EXTENSION BENEFITS MINING INDUSTRY

 

VANCOUVER – The Province intends to introduce legislation to provide greater certainty to British Columbia’s mining industry by extending the BC Mining Flow-Through Share Tax Credit for another three years to 2013, Premier Gordon Campbell announced at Mineral Exploration Roundup.

 

“The mining industry is a cornerstone of our provincial economy. Right now there are hundreds of exploration projects underway across B.C. injecting millions of dollars into communities and creating jobs,” said Premier Campbell. “In these challenging financial times, investments like these are crucial to helping us build strength in the economy. This three-year tax credit extension will help bring more certainty to the minerals sector and ensure B.C.’s mining industry remains globally-competitive and attractive to investment.”

 

In 2001, the Province introduced the Mining Flow-Through Share Tax Credit to provide a 20 per cent tax credit for grass roots mineral exploration. Flow-through shares allow exploration companies to pass eligible Canadian exploration expenses to investors. When combined with a similar federal tax credit, the flow-through tax credit helps to reduce the cost of a $1,000 investment to approximately $380.       

 

British Columbia also provides a refundable tax credit for individuals, companies and active members of partnerships that undertake mineral exploration in the province through the Mining Exploration Tax Credit. This credit is calculated as 20 per cent of eligible mineral exploration expenses incurred in British Columbia, 30 per cent in mountain pine beetle-affected areas, and provides a benefit to companies and individual prospectors that do not finance their exploration costs with flow through shares.

 

The Province has also eliminated the capital tax and the proposed introduction of the HST will increase the savings from the current sales tax exemption for mining machinery and equipment by eliminating all sales tax currently paid on mining inputs when fully implemented.

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Contact:

Bridgitte Anderson Press Secretary Office of the Premier 604 307-7177

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