SPECIAL ENTERPRISE ZONE AND TAX RELIEF ACT

[RSBC 1996] CHAPTER 438

Contents

1 — Definitions

1 (1) In this Act:

"development corporation" means the British Columbia Development Corporation;

"highway" means highway as defined in the Highway Act;

"improvement district" means an improvement district as defined in the Municipal Act;

"improvements" means improvements as defined in the Assessment Act;

"land" includes land covered by water, but does not include a highway or any improvements to land;

"lease" includes sublease;

"municipal council" means the council of a municipality;

"permanent establishment" means permanent establishment as defined in the Income Tax Act;

"regional board" means a regional board as defined in the Municipal Act;

"special enterprise" means a company that under this Act has been admitted to a zone as a special enterprise and has not ceased to be a special enterprise;

"statutory district" includes the statutory body having jurisdiction in respect of that district under the Act establishing, incorporating or otherwise creating the district;

"zone" means land established as a special enterprise zone under section 3 (1) (a);

"zone administrator" means, in relation to a zone, the company designated under this Act as administrator of that zone, or, if none is designated, the development corporation;

"zone approval board" means the Special Enterprise Zone Approval Board established under this Act.

(2) Section 40 of the Interpretation Act does not apply to this Act.

2 to 20 — Sections Not in Force

2 to 20 [Sections 2 to 20 not in force, see Supplement.]

21 — Income tax exemption — eligible corporations outside zones

21 (1) In this section:

"active business" means "active business" as defined in section 248 (1) of the Income Tax Act (Canada);

"eligible corporation" means a company designated as an eligible corporation under subsection (2);

"tax relief period" means, subject to subsection (4), in relation to an eligible corporation, the taxation year in which the eligible corporation first becomes an eligible corporation, and the 4 taxation years immediately following that year.

(2) If a company incorporated under the Company Act

(a) has only one permanent establishment and that permanent establishment is in an area not in any municipality and not in a zone, and

(b) the Lieutenant Governor in Council considers that the company has made, or intends to make, substantial new investment in the place where it has that permanent establishment,

the Lieutenant Governor in Council may, by regulation, designate the company to be, beginning on the day the regulation comes into force, for the purposes of this section, an eligible corporation.

(3) If an eligible corporation has, during a taxation year of that corporation falling within the tax relief period, active business income, and has paid tax under section 14 (2) or 16 of the Income Tax Act on the part of its income, assessed under section 14 of the Income Tax Act, R.S.B.C. 1979, c. 190, that is active business income, the Minister of Finance and Corporate Relations, on application in the prescribed form, must pay to that corporation out of the consolidated revenue fund a refund in an amount calculated by multiplying the tax so paid by the number of days during that taxation year that the corporation is an eligible corporation and then dividing the product so obtained by the total number of days in that taxation year.

(4) If in the opinion of the Minister of Finance and Corporate Relations, expressed in writing by a certificate signed by that minister, an eligible corporation is carrying on the business formerly carried on by one or more other eligible corporations, called in this subsection "predecessors", the tax relief period for the eligible corporation that is carrying on the business ends at the earliest time that the tax relief period would have ended for any of the predecessors.

(5) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may by regulation revoke the designation of a company as an eligible corporation if the Lieutenant Governor in Council considers that the company,

(a) being one that, at the time of designation, had not made substantial new investment in the place of its permanent establishment, has failed since that time to make substantial new investment in that place,

(b) no longer has substantial investment in the place where it has its permanent establishment, or

(c) has acquired another permanent establishment.

(6) On revocation under subsection (5) of the designation of a company as an eligible corporation the company ceases for the purposes of this section to be an eligible corporation.

22 — Reporting requirements

22 (1) [Subsection not in force, see Supplement.]

(2) Whenever required by the Minister of Finance and Corporate Relations, a company that is an eligible corporation under section 21 must prepare and file with the Minister of Finance and Corporate Relations a return setting out prescribed information in the prescribed manner.

23 — Examination of records

23 (1) [Subsection not in force, see Supplement.]

(2) The Minister of Finance and Corporate Relations, or a person designated by that minister, may, during normal business hours, make an examination of the affairs of a company that is an eligible corporation under section 21 for the purpose of determining whether or not the eligible corporation is complying with this Act and the regulations.

(3) The minister, Minister of Finance and Corporate Relations or designated person making an examination under this section is entitled to free access to all records, securities, cash and savings institution accounts of the special enterprise or eligible corporation being examined.

24 — Investigation

24 The minister, or if the investigation concerns an eligible corporation under section 21 or any matter referred to in that section, the Minister of Finance and Corporate Relations, may, by order, appoint a person to make whatever investigation the minister or the Minister of Finance and Corporate Relations considers appropriate for the administration of this Act, and in the order must determine the scope of the investigation.

25 — Offences

25 (1) A person who does any of the following commits an offence:

(a) makes a statement in any record, evidence or information submitted or given under this Act or the regulations to the minister or to the Minister of Finance and Corporate Relations or to a person conducting an investigation under section 24 that, at the time and in the light of the circumstances under which the statement is made, is false or misleading with respect to a material fact or that omits to state a material fact, the omission of which makes the statement false or misleading;

(b) makes a statement in a proposal, report, return or other record required to be filed or provided under this Act or the regulations that, at the time and in the light of the circumstances under which the statement is made, is false or misleading with respect to a material fact or that omits to state a material fact, the omission of which makes the statement false or misleading;

(c) withholds, destroys or conceals a record or thing referred to in section 23 (3) after it has been required by a person conducting an examination under that section;

(d) fails to comply with a requirement under section 22 (1) or (2).

(2) If a corporation is convicted of an offence under subsection (1) (a) to (c), the corporation is liable to a fine of not more than $100 000.

(3) If a corporation commits an offence under subsection (1), every director or officer of the corporation who authorized, permitted or acquiesced in the offence also commits an offence.

(4) If an individual commits an offence under subsection (1) (a) to (c) or (3), he or she is liable to a fine of not more than $50 000 or to imprisonment for not more than one year, or to both the fine and imprisonment.

(5) A person does not commit an offence under subsection (1) or (3) if he or she did not know that the statement was false or misleading and, in the exercise of reasonable diligence, could not have known that the statement was false or misleading.

(6) Section 5 of the Offence Act does not apply to this Act or the regulations.