Categories: General Market Commentary
Topics: General Market Commentary

BC exploration tax credits made permanent

Exploration in British Columbia hit paydirt on Monday, with the Premier announcing that two investment-friendly tax credits would no longer be evaluated on a year to year basis.

Speaking at Roundup 2019, the annual meet-up organized by AMEBC (Association for Mineral Exploration), Horgan said his government will adopt the recommendations of the Mining Jobs Task Force in making the Mining Flow-Through Share (MFTS) tax credit, and the B.C. Mining Exploration Tax Credit (METC) permanent incentives to support investment in mining.

“We are pleased that the provincial government is living up to their commitment to support the mineral exploration and mining industry and its future in this province,” said AMEBC president and CEO Edie Thome.

The MFTS provides a non-refundable B.C. income tax credit to individuals who have purchased flow-through shares from a B.C. mining company. The tax credit is worth 20 percent of mining expenditures that the mining company flows through to the individual.

The METC is a refundable B.C. income tax credit for eligible individuals and corporations conducting grassroots mineral exploration in B.C., and is worth 20 or 30 percent of qualified mining exploration expenditures.

“We are making these tax credits permanent, something the previous government would not do,” Horgan stated in a press release, which notes that mining and related sectors provide jobs for over 30,000 people and a production value worth more than $8 billion.

His government, an NDP-Green Party coalition, will also:

  • Add more resources to the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources, to improve mining application processes and industry safety and oversight.
  • Commit $1 million to working with industry and governments to develop a “mining innovation roadmap”.
  • Provide another $1 million for the Regional Mining Alliance, which promotes mineral exploration, indigenous partnerships and mining in B.C.

The four initiatives announced by the Premier were part of 25 recommendations from the BC Mining Jobs Task Force, a 12-member group chosen to review exploration and mining, and to advise the government, which took power in 2017 following a 16-year reign by the BC Liberals. The task force submitted its report to government in December.

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