Bill 67 (Legislature 10, Session 4)

L10 S4 7411

Alberta — Bills

Bill No. 67 of 1947. A. :aiJ;L TQ,, .1\,J,f~. !·U?r 1\~_:p., CO!'{~Qfti;qA.T;E. r. T,lfF~ , ~~~r ERA'i TAXATION ~QTz; BJl;~NG! C:ijj\~T&R . 9t Q.F.". T~E_ R~V~~F1]?, ~T-I\~U!',~~n ~fr J\~~~~~~~ 1?:1,~ ~ : •I "' , : ). •,. I ! I 1 j -~ .. ~-. f,. 0 ', I • •'' I,( NoTE." ... ,. 4 •• ,_ :~ This Bill am~nda: a:n~ cP,J.ls~l,i~~~ T..h.,e., ~i~ra.l . T~.q,tip,n_ Act, 1945, and Is· for tlle most' part m similar · terms to thiit Act. Only the most impo~nt sections and changes will be m~?~~~~~~ i.~ ·. ~~~·, ~~~· ·· ·;

Section 3 requires every owner, without notice or demand, between the first day of January and the first day, of Febnuar.y, '1948,'afideach person who becom~s ~an' owner a'fter the thirty-first day of January withfn thirtY' days of tnat date to deliver to the Deputy Minister a written statement setting out the legal description of all tracts with respect to which he is the owner of minerals, and the kind or kinds of minerals and what minerals are being produced or have been produced.

Section 4 provides for the payment before the thirty-first day of December in each year a general tax on all minerals as fixed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council but not ex ceeding five cents per acre.

Section 7 deals with the designation by the Minister of areas in the Province as producing areas and with the desig nation also of the principal mineral or minerals in a pro ducing area.

Section 8 authorizes the assessment of a tax on the prin cipal mineral or minerals and only on such minerals in a producing area.

Section 9 (2) pro-vides that the assessment shall be made before the first day of June in each year.

Section 9 ( 4) authorizes the Minister to allocate to a producing well any specified area for the purpose of computing the value of the minerals in the manner prescribed in the Schedule. A new method of ascertaining the fair actual value of the minerals fr,r the purpose of assessment is set out in the Schedule.

Section 1 of the

Schedule deals with petroleum and fixes the value at one and one-half times the value of the average field price during the first three months of the year in which the assessment is made of all petroleum produced from the well during the preceding year.

Section 2 of the

Schedule has similar provisions as to gas fixing the value at four times the value at three cents per thousand cubic feet of the natural gas produced from the well during the preceding year.

ii Coal is dealt with in

section 3 of the

Schedule and is valued at an amount equal to three times the value at ten cents per ton of all coal recovered from the tract in the preceding year. Provision is made, in the case of coal, for a reduction in the assessment under certain conditions.

Section 15 of the Bill provides that, when the assessment roll has been revised and appeals disposed of, the Deputy Minister shall levy a tax at such rate on the dollar as the Lieutenant Governor in Council may from time to time direct upon the assessed value of all principal minerals in each pro ducing area; the rates may vary as to different minerals. The change here is that the levy of the tax is limited to "principal minerals" designated as such by the Minister. W. S. GRAY, Legislative Counsel. (This note does not form any part of the Bill but is offered in explanation of its pnnisions.) ) ,, I

BILL No. 67 of 1947.

An Act to Amend and Consolidate The Mineral Taxation Act, being

Chapter 9 of the Statutes of Alberta, 1945. (Assented to , 1947.) j HIS MAJESTY, by and with the advi.ce and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Alberta, enacts as follows :

SHORT TITLE 1. This Act may be cited as "The Mineral Taxation Act, 1947."

INTERPRETATION. 2.

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,- (a) "Assessor" means the person appointed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council to perform the or any of the duties of an assessor prescribed by the Act; (b) "Certificate of Title" means a certificate of title issued pursuant to the provisions of The Land Titles' Act; (c) "Commission" means the Alberta Assessment ComM mission constituted under the provis-ions~ of The Alberta Municipal Assessment Commission Act; (d) "Department" means the Department of Lands and Mines; (e) "Deputy Minister" means the Deputy Minister of Lands and Mines; {f) "Mineral" means the right existing in any person by virtue of a certificate of title to work, win and carry away any mineral or minerals within, upon or under the area described in the .certificate of t!tle, and also any mineral or minerals which may be found to exist within, upon or under any land; (g) "Minister" means the Minister of Lands and Mines; (h) "Owner" means a person who is registered in a Land Titles Office as the owner, part owner or one of joint owners of an estate in fee simple in any mineral or minerals whether or not the title to the mineral or minerals is severed in the registry from the title to the surface; (i) "Principal mineral" means a mineral designated by the Minister pursuant to

section 7, and also the right to work, win and carry away such mineral;

2 (j) "Producing area" means,- (

i) any area in the Province designated as a pro ducing area by order of the Minister pursuant to the provisions of

section 7; (ii) any quarter

section of land according to the system of surveys under The Alberta Surveys Act, any river lot or any parcel described by metes and bounds on which or on any portion of which is situate a mine or well from which any mineral is being produced or has at any time been produced ; (iii) any quarter

section of land, any river lot, or any parcel described by metes and bounds which, or any portion of which, is within five eighths of a mile of any producing well, or of the limits of the workings of any mine as shown on the last plan of survey of the said mine workings on file with the Department; ( k) "Registrar" means a Registrar of Land Titles within the meaning of The Land Titles Act; (l) "Tract" means the area described in a certificate of title. 3.

Each owner shall without any notice or demand to that effect between the first day of January and the first day of February in the year 1948, and each person who becomes an owner after the thirty-first day' of January, 1948, shall within thirty days thereafter deliver to the Deputy Minister a written statement in which shall be set forth the legal description of all tracts in respect of which he is the owner of a mineral or minerals, and the kind or kinds of mineral or minerals; and the statement shall also set forth what mineral or minerals, if any, are being produced or have to his knowl edge been produced at any time within the said tracts. 4.-

(1) Every owner shall be liable for, and shall, on or before the thirty-first day of December in each year, pay to the Minister a tax on the mineral or minerals within, upon or under the tract of which he is the owner at such rate per acre, not exceeding five cents per acre, as may from time to time be determined by the Lieutenant Governor in Council.

(2) Where the name of more than one owner appears upon a .certificate of title, then all such owners shall be re garded as one owner for the purpose of taxation.

(3) No tax shall be payable under this

section with re spect to any mineral or minerals the mining and working of which is prohibited by the provisions of The Urban Mining Operations Act, being

chapter 274 of the Revised Statutes of Alberta, 1942, or any mineral or minerals within, upon or un.der any land forming part of the right-of-way of any railway,

3 5. If the tax payable by an owner under the provisions of

section 4 is less than twenty-five cents, the amount pay able shall be twenty-five cents. 6. Where more than one certificate of title exists for de fined or undefined interests in the same mineral or minerals, then each owner whose name appears upon a certificate of title shall be liable to a tax at the rate per acre determined pursuant to the provisions of

section 4 in proportion to the interest defined, and the amount of tax for any undefined in terest shall be computed in accordance with a signed state ment of the owner of such interest. 7.-

(1) The Minister may from time to time, by order published in The Alberta Gazette, designate any area in the Province as a producing area and shall designate the mineral or minerals which, for the purpose of this Act, shall be deemed to be the principal mineral or minerals in that area.

(2) Where any mineral has been designated as a principal mineral in any producing area pursuant to subsection (1), any such mineral when produced in a producing area other than an area designated by the Minister shall be deemed to be a principal mineral in such non-designated producing area.

(3) The Minister may at any time, by order published in The Alberta Gazette, rescind the designation of a producing a1·ea, or may from time to time by order as aforesaid alter the boundaries of a producing area in any manner which he deems proper.

(4) The Minister may from time to time, by order pub lished in The Alberta Gazette, designate, in addition to the mineral or minerals already designated, any mineral or min erals as principal mineral or minerals in an existing produc ing area. 8. Every owner of a principal mineral in a producing area shall be liable to be assessed and to pay a tax levied on the principal mineral under the provisions of this Act, and the tax shall be in addition to and not in substitution for the tax imposed by

section 4. 9.-

(1) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may from time to time appoint an assessor for the purpose of this Act and prescribe his remuneration.

(2) In every year, before the first day of June, the as sessor shall assess at the fair actual value each principal mineral in each producing area in the Province, and shall have prepared an assessment roll setting out thereon a brief de~cription of the mineral or minerals assessed, the names and addresses of the owners thereof and the assessed values ' thereof. ( 3) In making an assessment, the assessor may take any steps which he in his discretion considers necessary for the

4 purpose of ascertaining the fair actual value of the assessed minerals, and for that purpose may resort to all sources of available information, and subject to subsection (5) may fix such amount as appears to him to be just and equitable.

(4) The Minister may from time to time by order pub lished in The Alberta Gazette allocate to a producing well any specified area for the purpose of computing the value in accordance with the schedule.

(5) The fair actual value for the purposes of subsection (2) of a mineral for which a method of computing the value is provided by the

schedule to this Act shall be the value computed pursuant to the provisions of the schedule.

(6) Where a principal mineral is produced for the first time from any well or mine on or after the first day of January and before the first day of May in any year, the assessor shall for that year determine the fair actual value of each principal mineral in each producing area in the man ner prescribed by subsection (3).

(7) The assessor or any person duly appointed by him may for any purpose relating to an assessment, enter upon and inspect any land or property. 10. Upon the completion of the assessment roll, the as sessor shall indorse thereon or attach thereto a certificate setting out the date upon which the roll was so completed, and sign and deliver the same to the Deputy Minister. 11.

The Deputy Minister shall on receipt of the assess ment roll cause a copy of the assessment roll and of the certificate indorsed thereon to be posted up in a conspicuous place to which the public have access in the Department at Edmonton and in the Provincial Land Agency at Calgary, and shall keep it so posted up for twenty days, and shall within ten days after the posting up of the assessment roll in the Department at Edmonton, cause to be sent by mail to each owner whose ru1me appears on the assessment roll, an assessment notice containing the particulars appearing in the assessment roll with respect to the minerals assessed, together with a copy of subsection (1) of

section 12. 12.-

(1) Any owner whose name appears upon the as sessment roll may appeal to the Commission, and on such appeal may apply to vary the assessment roll and to alter any assessment shown thereon which the owner alleges to be wrongfully made or improperly assessed or to be too high or too low, or to assess any minerals which he alleges are liable to be and have not been assessed, and to include the same in the assessment roll upon giving the Commission and the Deputy Minister notice in writing after the date upon which the assessment notice was mailed pursuant to

section 11, but on or before the thirty-first day of July next following.

5 (2J The Deputy Minister may appeal to the Commis8ion and on such appeal may apply to vary the assessment roll and to alter any assessment shown thereon whicn he alleges to be wrongfully made or improperly assessed or to be too high or too low, or to assess any minerals which he alleges are liable to be and have not been at'!Bessed, ~d to include the same in the ·assessment xoU upor,. giving the Commission ~totice in writing withi:g. thirb' days fr9m the date Qfposting .the a~sment roll in the Pepantment at Ed.Jnonton. ' 13.-

(1) As soon as practieahle af~ the thirty-nfst ~Y of July in each year, the' Commission shaU hear all~appeals duly filed by owners of minerals and by the Deputy Mimster, and make such disposition of all appeals as the Commis ion may deem fit and proper. 1

(2) The provisions of sections 19 and 27 to 83, both in clusive, and ~qons 36 to 38, both in~lusive, of The Alberta. .Mru,nicipal Assessmen~ Commission· Act, shall mutatis rr!ittt{tndis and except as varied by, this Act, apply to any such appeal. · 14.-

(1) As soon as the Commission shall have disP,osed bf all appeals as aforesaid,lit shall proceed to revise the as sessm~nt .roll in accordance with the disposition ma,de by Jhe Comm1ss1on of the appeals, and thereupon slmll cause to. be attached to the assessment roll so reVfsed a cet;tificate which may be in the following form := ~ 1 , "This is to certify that tht_assessm~nt roilq~to annex~ is the assessrllent roll for tlie~yea1i 19 .... " r as..r~ised by tpe Alberta Assessment Commfssion.

"Dated at the City of Edmonto!l this ..................... i ·; .. ·!tf! of .......... ,.; ....................................... , 19......... • I ~ l J } ' ..... 6iid~~~· 6[th~ A. ib~~;; .. 1 4 Messment ;co1J'l1tp:ist!#n.',

(2) The a~ssment roll so revised an~ ev~ey P.ssessineDt, matter or thing set out therein and the certificate ' attached. thereto, shall be conclusive and binding upon all owners mentioned therein o:r affec~ thereby, and shall not be qUes tioned in any proceedings in any court as to any sta~ent, matte11 or thing contained therein whatsdev.er. I .1$.

In each ye'!l.- upon delivery of th~ assessmer,.t roll an~ atter ap~al ~np revision, if any, the Deputy Minister sh~ll 1 p.r.b'ceed tO levi a 'tax at ~ ueh rate or rates on the dollar as ~he tieutenant Governor in Council may .from time to time direct upon the assessed value of all principal miner~ in each producing area on the assessment roll a8 certified by the assessor or by the Commission, ~s the case may be, and the rates so prescribed m,ay vary with respect to different minerals in any produc_ing area. 1' • •

6 16. If the tax payable by an owner under

section 15 with respect to any tract is less than one dollar, the amount pay able shall be one dollar. 1 '1. As soon as may be after the Lieutenant Governor in Council has fixed the rate, the Deputy Minister shall cause to be sent by mail to each person whose name appears on the assessment roll as the owner of any assessable mineral or minerals, a notice describing the mineral or minerals as sessed, the amount of tax payable to the Minister in respect thereof, a de~and for the payment of the tax by a specified date, and a statement of the penalties outlined in subsection (1) of

section 21. 18. The Registrar shall not accept any transfer (other than under the provisions of

section 25), mortgage, lease or assignment of lease to be registered against a title for a mineral or minerals unless a tax receipt from the Depart ment or a tax certificate from the Deputy Minister is filed with the Registrar showing in either case that there are no taxes owing under this Act with respect to the mineral or minerals. 19.

The Deputy Minister shall if requested make a search in the assessment or tax roll in respect of any assessable or taxable mineral or minerals and shall if required, upon re ceipt of a fee of fifty cents, give a certificate under his hand showing whether or not all taxes in respect of the mineral or minerals described in a certificate of title have been paid, and if not, the amount of current taxes and arrears payable with respect to the mineral or minerals. 20.

The Registrar shall at the end of each month furnish the Deputy Minister with a statement showing all changes of ~wnership of a mineral or minerals which have occurred during the preceding month, showing the name of the registered owner, the mineral or minerals transferred, a brief description of the area according to the certificate of title, and the date thereof. 21.- ( 1) In tlie event of the tax imposed under

section 15 or any part thereof remaining unpaid after the expiration of six months from the date of mailing of the notice referred to in

section 17, there shall be added thereto by way of penalty a sum equal to five per cent of the unpaid taxes, and in the event of the taxes and penalties or any part thereof still re maining unpaid after the expiration of a further period of six months, there shall be added thereto an additional five per cent of the unpaid taxes and penalties and the amount or amounts so added shall form part of the tax or taxes due.

(2) In the event of the tax imposed under

section 4 or any part thereof remaining unpaid after the thirty-first day of December in any year, there shall be added thereto after the expiration of six months a sum equal to five per cent of

7 the 'unpaid taxes, and in the revent of the taxes and penalties or any part _ thereof still remaining unpaid after the expira-: tion of a further period of six months, there shall be added thereto an additional five per cent of the unpaid taxes and penalties , and the amount or amounts sd added shall form· part of the tax ol' taxes due. J

(3) Nothing in this

section cotitained shall be construed to extend the titpe for payment of the taxes nor in any way to impair any }'emedy provided by this Act for the collection of taxes. 22.

The taxes and penalties payable by any person pur suant to this Act shall be deemed to be a debt due His Majesty and shall be recoverable as such in the Supreme Court of Alberta or in any other court of competent jurisdiction in the name of His Majesty represented by the Minister, and the said taxes shall constitute a charge upon the mineral or minerals in .respect of which the sam~ are payable, which charge shall have prior-ity over all other mortgages, charges, liens or encumberances whatsoever excepting a lien for 'Yages filed under the provisions of The M-echanics' ~ien Act. I 23.-

(1) Where the taxes with respect to a mineral or minerals are one full year in arrears whether under the pro visions of The Mineral Taxation Act, being chapt-er 50 of the Revised Statutes of Alberta, 1942, The Mine-tal Taxation Act, 1945, or this Act, the Deputy Minister may send by registere1i mail a notice to the owner at the address set out in the certifi cate of title covering the mineral or mineraJls, advising him that unless all taxes and penalties dy~ and owing ~t the time of paym~ nt with respect to the mineral or minerals a1;e p.Jlid within one year from the date of the mailing of this notice" his certificate of title will be cancelled with respect tO such min~ral or minerals and title vested in His Majesty . . (2)' If at the expir,~tion of the pe!!iod. ~f ~ne y~r laf:\1f mentioned, all taxes and penalties due and owing with respect to the mineral or minerals have not been pai~ the Dep.uty Minister may del'iver or mail to the Registrar a notice ip Form A in the Schedule, and upon receipt 'Of any such notice the Registrar shall cancel the certificate of title of the owner with respect to such mineral or minerals and shall issue a new certificate of title to the mineral or minerals free and clear of all encumbrances i~ the name of His Majesty in the right of the Province as represented by the Minister. 24.

Until fitle has been issued in the na,me'of His Majesty pursuant to the provisions ot

Section 23, the mineral or min erals shall continue to be asse.ssed an_!! ~xed, or taxe,d, ~s tli~ case may be, and there shall be added tgere to at the ~hpe o~ the payment of the taxes, interest at the rate of five per cent per annum on all unpaid t~xes from the date when the second penalty thereon became due under the provision's of s~ction 21 or under the provisions of The Minemb Taxation 1 Act, being

chapter 50 of the Revised Statutes of Alberta, 1942~ or The Mineral Taxation Act, 1945, until pa:Yment. , ·

8 25. Any owner whose title to a mineral or minerals is free a11d clear of encumbrances may, with the consent of the Minister first had and obtained, transfer to His Majesty the mineral or minerals, and upon the issue by the Registrar of a certificate of title in the name of His Majesty, the taxes and penalties outstanding against the mineral or minerals under the provisions of this Act, The Mineral Taxation Act, being

chapter 50 of the Revised Statutes of Alberta, 1942, and The Mineral Taxation Act, 191,.5, shall be cancelled and the former owner shall be relieved from the payment thereof. 26. Any mineral or minerals the title to which is veste~ in His Majesty pursuant to the provisions of

section 23 or

section 25 .shall be provincial lands for the purposes of The Provincial Lands Act. 27.-

(1) If anything to be done within a number of days or at or before a time fixed by or under this Act cannot be or is not so done, the Minister may by order from time to time appoint a further or other time for doing it, whether the' time at or before or within which the same ought to have been done has or has not arrived or expired, as the case may be.

(2) Anything done at or before or within the time specified in such order shall be as valid as if it had been done at or before or within the time fixed by or under the Act. 28. The Lieutenant Governor in Council shall have power to make all such rules and regulations as may be necessary or convenient for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this Act. 29. The Mineral Taxation Act, 1945, being

chapter 9 of the Statutes of Alberta, 1945, is hereby repealed. 30. This Act shall come into force on the day upon which it is assented to. SCHEDULE. 1. The fair actual value for the purpose of assessment in any year of the petroleum within, upon or under the land allocated by the Minister to a well producing petroleum or petroleum and natural gas shall be one and one-half times the value at the average field price during the first three months of the year in which the assessment is made of all petroleum produced from the well during the preceding year.

Provided that in any case where a well has produced petroleum for part only of the preceding year the production of petroleum for the preceding year shall be deemed to be

9 the amount which the well would have produced had it been producing for the full year at the same rate as it produced during the part of the year it was in production. 2. The fair actual value for the purpose of assessment in any year of the natural gas within, upon or under the land allocated by the Minister to a well producing either natural gas alone or both petroleum and natural gas shall be four times the value at three. cents per thousand cubic feet of the natural gas produced from the well during the preceding year.

Provided that in any year where the well has produced natural gas for part only of the preceding year the production of natural gas for the preceding year shall be deemed to be the amount which the well would have produced had it been producing for the full year at the same rate as it produced during the part of the year it was in production. 3.

The fair actual value for the purpose of assessment in any year of the coal within, upon or under any tract from which any coal has been recovered in the preceding year, shall be an amount equal to three times.the value at ten cents per ton of all coal recovered from the tract in the year im mediately preceding the year of the assessment.

Provided that in any case where the owner establishes to the satisfaction of the assessor that the amount of coal within, upon or under a tract is less than an amount equal to three times the amount recovered from the tract in the year immediately preceding the year of the assessment, the fair actual value of the coal within, upon or under the tract shall be the value of ten cents per ton of the amount of coal so established to the satisfaction of the assessor to be within, upon or under the tract. FORM A. (Section !33) To the Registrar of the ............................................................... .

AlbertaLand Registration District. !, ................................................ , Deputy Minister of Lands and Mines, pursuant to the powers vested in me by The M-ineral Taxation Act, 1947, hereby authorize you to issue certificate or certificates of title to the mineral or minerals enumerated in the

Schedule within, upon or under the lands described in the

Schedule hereto attached in the name of His Majesty the King in the right of the Province of Alberta as represented by the Minister of Lands and Mines, free and clear of all encumbrances. Deputy Minister.

No.67 FOURTH SESSION TEMH &mlSU"RfltE Fl.GEORG:En lf47 BILL A Bili te ainetld and CODSM!eate The Miner~ Ta1atian Acf; lJeing chaP ter 9 of the Statutes ef Alberta, 1945. tleeeived and read the- Fll'Bt time ....... . Second time ..................................... . Third time ................ . HON. MR. TANNER. EDMONTON: A. Shnltka, Kine'• Printer .. .., Title: 1947 (10th, 4th) Bill 67,

An Act to amend and Consolidate The Mineral Taxation Act, being

Chapter 9 of the Statutes of Alberta, 1945

Document details

Collection	Alberta — Bills
Citation	L10 S4 7411
Type	bill
Volume / chapter	L10 S4 7411
Language	en
Format	json
Source	PROVINCIAL
Identifier	77b3c6790ea9c3dfce9e70d085e9562b3d6917ef

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