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[Updated to November 2, 1999]
Contents
Section | ||
1 In this Act:
"assessment roll" includes a supplementary assessment roll;
"assessor" means an assessor appointed under the Assessment Authority Act;
"collector" includes a deputy collector;
"farm land" means a farm as defined in the Assessment Act;
"improvements" means improvements as defined in the Assessment Act;
"land" means land as defined in the Assessment Act;
"legal description" means a description sufficient to describe a property for the purpose of its registration in a land title office;
"minister" means the Minister of Finance and Corporate Relations;
"occupier" means an occupier as defined in the Assessment Act;
"owner" means an owner as defined in the Assessment Act;
"parcel" means a parcel as defined in the Assessment Act;
"person" means a person as defined in the Assessment Act;
"property" includes land and improvements;
"registered" and "registration", in relation to property, means registration in the records of the land title office of the land title district in which the property is located;
"review panel" means a review panel as defined in the Assessment Act;
"rural land" means land outside a municipality other than farm, forest, timber, tree farm and wild land;
"Surveyor of Taxes" means the Surveyor of Taxes appointed under this Act;
"taxes" includes all taxes on property or other basis of assessment imposed, levied, assessed or assessable under this Act, and all percentage additions, penalties and interest added to taxes under this Act;
"trustee" means a trustee as defined in the Assessment Act.
2 (1) As provided in this Act, and for raising a revenue for Provincial purposes,
(a) property in British Columbia is subject to taxation,
(b) every owner must be assessed and taxed on his or her property, and
(c) every occupier of Crown land must be assessed and taxed on the land and improvements on it held by him or her as an occupier.
(2) A person assessed and taxed may appeal as provided in this Act and the Assessment Act.
(3) Taxes levied under this Act relate to the calendar year in which the levy is first made and are based on the assessed values of land and improvements as confirmed by a review panel.
3 (1) A person who has custody of or control over information or records under this Act must not disclose the information or records to any other person except
(a) in the course of administering or enforcing this or another taxation Act,
(b) in court proceedings relating to this or another taxation Act,
(c) as provided in, or ordered under, section 39 (3), 40 (1), 99 (5) or 100 (1) of the Family Relations Act or section 8 (3) or 9 (2) of the Family Maintenance Enforcement Act,
(d) under an agreement that
(i) is between the government and another government,
(ii) relates to the administration or enforcement of taxation enactments, and
(iii) provides for the disclosure of information and records to and the exchange of similar information and records with that other government, or
(e) for the purpose of the compilation of statistical information by the government or the government of Canada.
(2) Subsection (1) does not apply in respect of a taxation roll.
(3) A person who contravenes this section commits an offence and is liable to a fine of not more than $2 000.
4 A person must keep adequate books of account and records for the purposes of this Act, and if the books or records kept by a person are in the opinion of the minister inadequate for those purposes, the minister may specify the books and records that must be kept by that person.
5 A person commits an offence if the person, without reasonable excuse, in violation of this Act or the regulations does any of the following:
(a) refuses or fails to make a required return;
(b) in making a return, or otherwise, withholds information necessary to ascertain the true taxable amount of a property, or other basis of assessment;
(c) refuses or fails to provide to an officer any access, facility or assistance required for an entry on or examination of property or accounts;
(d) refuses or fails to attend or to submit himself or herself to examination on oath or otherwise;
(e) fails to keep a book of account or record required to be kept by him or her.
6 A person is liable on conviction to a fine of not less than $100 and not more than $1 000 if the person
(a) knowingly and willfully makes a false or deceptive statement in a return required under this Act,
(b) fraudulently omits to give, in a return required under this Act, a full and correct statement of the property, or other basis of assessment of the taxpayer, or
(c) makes or keeps a false entry or record in a book of account or record required to be kept under this Act.
7 A person who without reasonable excuse tears down, injures or defaces an advertisement, notice or document that, under this Act or the regulations, is posted in a public place, commits an offence.
8 A person who commits an offence for which no other penalty is specifically provided is liable on conviction
(a) for a first offence to a fine not exceeding $500, and
(b) for a second or subsequent offence to a fine of not less than $100 and not more than $1 000.
9 A director, manager, secretary or other officer of a corporation or association, or a member of a partnership or syndicate, who knowingly and willfully authorizes or permits an act, default or refusal for which the corporation, association, partnership or syndicate is by this Act declared guilty of an offence is also guilty of an offence.
10 (1) A prosecution for an offence for which a fine is imposed under this Act must not be instituted without leave of the Attorney General, and fines recovered under this Act
(a) must be paid to the Minister of Finance and Corporate Relations, and
(b) form part of the consolidated revenue fund.
(2) An information for an offence must be laid within 24 months of the time the matter of the information arose.
11 (1) Taxes levied in a taxation notice mailed under section 21 (2) on or before May 31 of any year are due and payable on July 2 of the year they are first levied.
(2) Subject to subsection (5), if
(a) a portion of the taxes referred to in subsection (1) remains unpaid on July 2 of the year they are first levied, there must be added to them, as a penalty, 5% of the unpaid taxes, and
(b) a portion of taxes referred to in subsection (1) remains unpaid on October 31 of the year they are first levied, there must be added to them, as an additional penalty, a further 5% of the unpaid taxes
and the amount added under paragraph (a) or (b) is, for all purposes, deemed to be part of the taxes.
(3) If a portion of the taxes referred to in subsection (1), including penalties, remains unpaid on December 31 in the year they are first levied, they are deemed delinquent on that day, and after that day bear interest at a rate prescribed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council until paid or recovered.
(4) Accrued interest is, for all purposes, deemed to be part of the delinquent taxes as if the accrued interest had originally formed part of the taxes.
(5) If an owner of farm land applies in writing to the Surveyor of Taxes stating that he or she is producing seasonal crops or produce and that he or she is unable to pay the taxes levied on the land for the current year by July 2, the Surveyor of Taxes must grant the owner an extension of time for payment to October 31 of the year in which they are first levied and if they are unpaid after that date, there must be added to them as a penalty, 10% of the unpaid taxes and the amount so added is, for all purposes, deemed to be part of the taxes.
(6) An application under subsection (5) may be made to the Surveyor of Taxes by electronic means or other format if that means or format is acceptable to the Surveyor of Taxes.
12 (1) Taxes levied in a supplementary taxation notice mailed under section 21 (7) are due and payable 38 days after the statement date on that notice.
(2) A penalty, calculated as follows, must be added to any portion of the taxes referred to in subsection (1) that remains unpaid after the due date:
(a) if the taxes were levied in respect of the taxation year in which the supplementary taxation notice is mailed and the due date is before October 31 of that year, the penalty equals the sum of
(i) 5% of the unpaid taxes, and
(ii) a further 5% of any portion of those taxes that remains unpaid on October 31 of that year;
(b) if the taxes were levied in respect of the taxation year in which the supplementary taxation notice is mailed and the due date is on or after October 31 of that year, the penalty equals 10% of the unpaid taxes;
(c) if the taxes were levied in respect of a taxation year before the year in which the supplementary taxation notice is mailed, the penalty equals 10% of the unpaid taxes.
(3) Section 11 (3) and (4) applies in respect of taxes levied in a supplementary taxation notice, except that taxes referred to in subsection (2) (c) of this section that remain unpaid the day after the due date are deemed to be delinquent on that day.
13 (1) The Treasury Board may make regulations to authorize the Surveyor of Taxes or a local collector to receive deposits of money to be applied to taxes levied under this Act and to provide for the payment to the taxpayer of interest as prescribed.
(2) Money required
(a) to be paid under a regulation under this section, or
(b) as a refund of that part of a deposit in excess of tax payable,
may be paid out of the consolidated revenue fund.
14 (1) Taxes are payable at the office of the local collector appointed for the collection district in which they are due, or at a bank, credit union or trust company acceptable to the Surveyor of Taxes, and may be paid by cash, cheque, post office money order, postal note or express orders.
(2) Payment tendered by cheque or other order must be made payable to the Minister of Finance and Corporate Relations and the tax is deemed not to be paid, even if a receipt is given, until the amount of the cheque or order is received by the Minister of Finance and Corporate Relations.
15 (1) The following property is exempt from taxation:
(a) land and improvements in a municipality;
(b) land and improvements owned by a municipal corporation, except if held or occupied otherwise than by or on behalf of the municipality as provided in section 28 of the Assessment Act;
(c) land consisting of a public road, way, highway or public square or park used exclusively for public purposes;
(d) every place of public worship, and land used exclusively for a public burying ground or cemetery, not exceeding 2.023 ha;
(e) fruit trees on farm land;
(f) improvements consisting of buildings, fixtures and things erected on or affixed to land necessarily and actually used for agriculture, horticulture, poultry raising or stock raising, including a farmer’s dwelling, that have been assessed on farm land;
(g) land and improvements vested in or held by Her Majesty, or held in trust for Her Majesty in right of Canada or of British Columbia, or held in trust for the public uses of British Columbia;
(h) land and improvements vested in or held by Her Majesty or another person in trust for or for the use of a tribe or body of Indians, and either unoccupied, or occupied by a person in an official capacity or by the Indians;
(i) buildings with the land attached to them, not exceeding 4 046.8 m2, of a public library, or farmers’, mechanics’, women’s, mining, literary or scientific institute or society, if they are used exclusively for the purposes of the library, institute or society;
(j) buildings with the land attached to them, not exceeding 8.094 ha, of an agricultural or horticultural society, if they are used exclusively for the purposes of agriculture or horticulture;
(k) buildings and land of a university, orphanage, public hospital, asylum or home for care of the sick, the aged and the infirm or of persons who have a mental or physical disability if the institution is supported in whole or in part by public donations, private charity or grants from the government, and the buildings and land are used exclusively for the purposes of the institution;
(l) Crown land held under a tree farm licence under the Forest Act,or held under an agreement with the government under the Forest Act,but only if both the land and the timber on it are subject to management by the licensee or holder for the purpose of growing continuously and perpetually, and harvesting, successive crops of forest products on a sustained yield basis;
(m) subject to subsection (2), improvements in a mine that are used for exploration or proving of the ore;
(n) tunnels and similar excavations of a mine;
(o) a building, including the land on which it actually stands, of which an incorporated institution of learning regularly giving to children instruction accepted as equivalent to that provided in a public school is the registered owner or the owner under agreement, and which is actually occupied by the institution and wholly in use for the purpose of the instruction, and also including an area of the land surrounding the buildings determined by the minister to be reasonably necessary in connection with them, and if the land and improvements are primarily in use for the purpose of the instruction, the minister may determine the proportions of the land and improvements that are exempt and taxable respectively;
(p) a building, including the land on which it actually stands, constructed or reconstructed with the assistance of aid granted and given by the government after January 1, 1947, and owned and used exclusively by a nonprofit corporation for providing homes for elderly citizens, and also an area of land surrounding the building determined by the minister;
(q) land and improvements if the land and improvements are
(i) owned or occupied, and
(ii) used exclusively
by a nonprofit organization for activities that are of demonstrable benefit to all members of the community where the land is located;
(r) sewage treatment plants, manure storage facilities, effluent reservoirs, effluent lagoons, deodorizing equipment, dust and particulate matter eliminators;
(s) to the extent established by subsection (3), land and improvements that were exempted for the 1996 taxation year under a pollution abatement provision, if
(i) the land and improvements were exempted under that provision for the 1996 taxation year on final determination under the Assessment Act, and
(ii) as applicable,
(A) for an exemption in relation to land only, the land continues to be exclusively or primarily used for the purpose of abating pollution,
(B) for an exemption in relation to improvements only, the improvements continue to be exclusively or primarily used for the purpose of abating pollution, or
(C) for an exemption in relation to land and improvements, the land and improvements continue to be exclusively or primarily used for the purpose of abating pollution;
(t) land and improvements for future hospital requirements, designated for the purpose of this section by the Minister of Health, that are vested in or held by a nonprofit society or corporation that has, as one of its objects, the operation of a hospital;
(u) land held under a lease or licence issued under the Coal Act;
(v) land or improvements, or both, that are exempted by bylaw under section 843 (3) or 844 (2) of the Municipal Act;
(w) land that is exempted by bylaw under section 845.1 (2) of the Municipal Act;
(x) land or improvements, or both, that are exempted under section 131 (6) or(8) of the School Act.
(2) The exemption in subsection (1) (m) does not extend to the improvements referred to in that subsection after any ore is mined or won.
(3) The amount of an exemption under subsection (1) (s) for a taxation year is limited to the portion of the assessed value of land and improvements that is the least of the following:
(a) the portion that the assessment commissioner, in his or her discretion, determines is attributable to the use of pollution abatement for that taxation year, subject to final determination under the Assessment Act;
(b) the portion that was exempted for pollution abatement purposes for the immediately preceding taxation year on final determination under the Assessment Act;
(c) the portion that was exempted for the 1996 taxation year on final determination under the Assessment Act.
(4) Septic disposal systems are not exempt from taxation under this section.
(5) In this section,
"final determination under the Assessment Act" means a determination on the assessment roll for a taxation year, subject to any change that is finally determined under the Assessment Act by supplementary assessment roll, by correction of a property assessment review panel, on complaint to a property assessment review panel or on further appeal;
"pollution abatement provision" means section 15 (1) (s) of this Act, section 339 (1) (q) of the Municipal Act or section 396 (1) (e.01) of the Vancouver Charter, as those provisions read before their repeal and replacement by the Budget Measures Implementation Act, 1997.
16 A person must be taxed annually on his or her land and its improvements in the collection district where the land is located, and if a parcel of land is partly in one district and partly in another, the levy for that parcel must be made in the district where the greater part is located.
17 If a property is acquired by a person entitled to tax exemption or begins to be used for a purpose qualifying it for tax exemption, the exemption becomes effective in the taxation year following the year in which
(a) the property is acquired by the person, or
(b) the change in use has occurred.
18 (1) Subject to subsections (2) to (4), land and the improvements on it must be assessed and taxed in the name of the owner.
(2) If a statement verified by affidavit is provided to the assessor showing that a parcel of land and the improvements on it have been sold or leased by the owner to another person, the other person’s name must be noted on the assessment roll, and a similar notice of the assessment must be sent to him or her as to the owner.
(3) After the notice referred to in subsection (2) has been sent, the taxes assessed in respect of the land and improvements referred to in that subsection may be recovered either from the owner or from the purchaser or tenant, or from a future owner, purchaser or tenant, saving his or her recourse against other persons but in the case of a sale, if the registered owner provides a statement to the assessor under this section showing that a deed of the land and improvements has been executed and delivered to the purchaser, the registered owner is not personally liable to pay taxes assessed after that for the land and improvements.
(4) If
(a) land belonging to the Crown in right of British Columbia or Canada is held under a homestead entry, pre-emption record, lease, licence, agreement for sale, accepted application for purchase, easement or otherwise,
(b) land is held in trust for a tribe or body of Indians and occupied by a person who is not an Indian in other than an official capacity, or
(c) land is assessed under section 27 of the Assessment Act,
the land and its improvements must be assessed and the occupier taxed as if he or she were the owner of the land and improvements but the assessment or taxation in no way affects the rights of Her Majesty in the land.
(5) Despite subsection (4) and section 2, if a person is an occupier of Crown property and he or she is a person
(a) who donated it to the government,
(b) who sold it to the government at a value that was, in the opinion of the Lieutenant Governor in Council, substantially less than its market value, or
(c) designated by, and who does not pay rent or other valuable consideration for the property he or she occupies to, the person who donated or sold the property to the government under paragraph (a) or (b),
he or she must not be taxed as an occupier under subsection (4) so long as the Lieutenant Governor in Council is satisfied that he or she qualifies under this section and the regulations.
19 The assessed value of land and improvements must be determined under the Assessment Act.
20 (1) In this section:
"property class" means a class of property prescribed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council under section 19 of the Assessment Act;
"variable tax rate system" means a system under which individual tax rates are determined and imposed for each property class.
(2) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations for the taxation of land and improvements under this Act, including regulations prescribing
(a) tax rates,
(b) relationships between tax rates,
(c) formulas for calculating the relationships referred to in paragraph (b), and
(d) different tax rates for different areas.
(3) If the Lieutenant Governor in Council prescribes tax rates under subsection (2) (a), the Lieutenant Governor in Council must adopt a variable tax rate system.
(4) If the tax imposed on a parcel of land under subsection (2) is less than $1, the parcel must be taxed $1, and the collector must place that sum on the taxation roll.
21 (1) The Surveyor of Taxes must prepare a taxation roll that sets out the information in the form that the minister may prescribe for each parcel of land on which taxes are imposed or levied under this Act, or under another Act that provides for collection of taxes under this Act.
(2) On completion of the taxation roll, the Surveyor of Taxes must mail to every person named in it, on or before May 31 in every year, a taxation notice in the form and containing the information that the minister prescribes.
(3) Despite subsection (2), the Surveyor of Taxes may, with the written agreement of a taxpayer,
(a) send a taxation notice to the taxpayer other than by mail, and
(b) provide the information required to be contained in a taxation notice in a form other than the prescribed form, including provision by means of electronic information storage and electronic data transmission.
(4) The taxation notice must be directed to the last known assessed owner.
(5) Taxes levied and collected under this Act must, except as otherwise provided, be calculated, levied and accounted for by the Surveyor of Taxes on the assessed values entered in the assessment roll as confirmed and authenticated by a review panel and as amended by a supplementary assessment roll that is prepared under the Assessment Act and is provided to the Surveyor of Taxes before the calculation of the tax levy.
(6) Subject to subsection (7), the duties imposed on the Surveyor of Taxes as to the annual taxation roll and all provisions of this Act on taxation rolls apply to supplementary taxation rolls.
(7) Unless a supplementary assessment roll has been incorporated into the taxation roll for the purposes of subsection (5) or under subsection (8), the Surveyor of Taxes must mail to every person named on the supplementary taxation roll a supplementary taxation notice.
(8) If, before or after a taxation roll is completed and before a taxation notice is mailed under subsection (2), a supplementary assessment roll is prepared under the Assessment Act, the Surveyor of Taxes may incorporate the supplementary assessment roll into the taxation roll and may issue to each person named in the taxation roll a single tax notice reflecting any information that was contained in the supplementary assessment roll.
22 The taxation roll must be placed in the office of the collector of the district, or in another place the minister may direct, and the roll must be open for inspection by the public during office hours.
23 The taxation roll is the property of the government.
24 (1) Except as provided in subsection (2), no person has a right of action or other remedy against the government for the recovery of money paid as taxes by mistake.
(2) A person who has paid money as taxes may apply to the minister for a refund of the amount of money paid as taxes by mistake if
(a) the entry on the assessment roll on which the taxes were based is set aside, altered or quashed as a result of
(i) a complaint or appeal made under the Assessment Act, or
(ii) a proceeding by way of judicial review that is commenced within
(A) 30 days after the date the assessment notice was issued, or
(B) 21 days after the date the person received the property assessment appeal board’s decision on the entry,
(b) the amount paid was more than the amount levied, or
(c) as a result of a clerical or arithmetical error, more than the correct amount of taxes was levied.
(3) If the minister is satisfied that an applicant is eligible under subsections (2) and (5), the minister must refund the amount of money paid as taxes by mistake.
(4) The minister may remit taxes
(a) in the circumstances described in subsection (2) (a) or (c), or
(b) if, as a result of an error or omission by the assessor, more than the correct amount of taxes was levied and the minister is satisfied that the person liable for the taxes
(i) has not received the assessment notice, and
(ii) has advised the Surveyor of Taxes of the error or omission within 30 days after the date the person first knew or reasonably ought to have known of the error or omission.
(5) No person may apply for a refund under subsection (2) (b) or (c) or for a remission under subsection (4) more than 6 years after the taxes were due.
(6) If taxes imposed under this Act are due or accruing due from a taxpayer to whom an amount is to be refunded under this section, all or part of the amount may, in the minister’s discretion, be refunded by being applied as a credit on account of the taxes due or accruing due.
25 (1) Every assessment under and every assessment roll prepared under the Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway Belt Tax Act must be considered and dealt with by a Court of Revision appointed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council.
(2) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may
(a) appoint one or more persons to be a Court of Revision for a collection district to hear appeals on assessments prepared under subsection (1),
(b) establish more than one Court of Revision for the same collection district,
(c) extend the jurisdiction of a Court of Revision to include more than one collection district, and
(d) specify the remuneration to be paid to members of the Courts of Revision.
(3) All rights, powers and privileges conferred on a review panel are conferred on the Courts of Revision appointed under this Act.
(4) For hearing appeals on an assessment under or an assessment roll prepared under the Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway Belt Tax Act, the Court of Revision must hold its first sitting at the date, place and time designated by the Lieutenant Governor in Council.
26 The minister may, at any time after the mailing of the taxation notices for that year, with or without notice, receive a petition from a taxpayer who declares himself or herself, from sickness or extreme poverty, unable to pay the taxes levied against him or her, and may remit or reduce the taxes due by the petitioner or reject the petition.
27 (1) A person who is dissatisfied with the decision of a Court of Revision appointed under this Act may appeal to the Supreme Court.
(2) An assessed owner may, within 30 days after the decision, serve on the assessor a written notice of his or her intention to appeal to the Supreme Court.
(3) The notice referred to in subsection (2) must be signed by the assessed owner or his or her solicitor or an agent authorized in writing and must set out the grounds of appeal.
(4) An assessor may, with the consent of the minister, within 30 days after the decision, serve on the assessed owner a written notice of the assessor’s intention to appeal to the Supreme Court.
(5) The notice referred to in subsection (4) must be signed by the assessor or by Crown counsel and must set out the grounds of the appeal.
(6) On application by the appellant made within 40 days after the decision complained of, the court must set a day for hearing the appeal, and notice of the day must be given to the assessor or the assessed owner, as the case may be.
(7) The court must hear the appeal and the evidence adduced on oath before it at the time and place set and in a summary manner, and may adjourn the hearing and defer judgment at pleasure, but all appeals must be determined within 3 months from the final revision by the Court of Revision of the assessment roll appealed against.
(8) If the appeal is not decided within the time set out in subsection (7), the decision of the Court of Revision stands.
(9) In addition to the powers mentioned, the court has all the powers conferred on the Court of Revision by this Act.
(10) The assessor must, on an appeal from the decision of the Court of Revision, produce at the hearing the assessment roll and all papers and documents in his or her possession affecting the matter.
(11) Costs of the appeal are in the discretion of the court, which must set their amount, not to exceed $50 and disbursements, and order by and to whom they must be paid.
(12) Payment may be enforced by execution issued out of the court on order of the court.
(13) An appeal on a question of law lies from a decision of the court to the Court of Appeal with leave of a justice of the Court of Appeal.
28 If an appeal is made, the giving of a notice of appeal or a delay in the hearing of the appeal does not affect the due date, the delinquency date, the interest or any liability for payment provided by this Act in respect of tax levied on the assessed value that is the subject of the appeal but if the assessment is set aside or the assessed value reduced on appeal, the minister must refund to the taxpayer on completion of the action the tax or excess tax paid by the taxpayer, or any interest imposed or paid on the tax or arrears.
29 Except as otherwise provided in this Act, a taxpayer is personally liable to pay all taxes for which he or she is assessed.
30 (1) Taxes assessed or imposed and due for land and improvements under this Act, or any property subject to taxation under another Act, form a lien and charge in favour of the government on the entire property taxed.
(2) A lien or charge created by subsection (1) has priority over every other lien, charge or encumbrance on the property.
(3) The lien or charge created by subsection (1) and its priority is not lost or impaired by
(a) any neglect, omission or error of the collector or of an agent or officer,
(b) taking or failing to take proceedings to recover the taxes due,
(c) tender or acceptance of partial payment of the taxes, or
(d) registration or want of registration.
(4) If the collector considers it appropriate to do so, the collector may register the lien or charge created by subsection (1) by registering a lien form against the property in the appropriate land title office in the same manner as a charge is registered under the Land Title Act.
31 (1) A sale or transfer of possession of any property subject to a lien or charge in favour of the government does not affect the right of distress or sale of the property under this Act for the recovery of the taxes.
(2) A person who acquires property on which a lien under this Act exists is jointly liable with the owner originally assessed for payment of the taxes.
32 If property is sold, the amount of the tax lien for unpaid taxes constitutes a first charge on the proceeds of sale.
33 (1) Before taking proceedings for the recovery of taxes under this Act, the collector must notify the taxpayer of his or her intention to enforce payment.
(2) The notice may be given by letter mailed to the taxpayer’s address as last known to the collector, or by a general or special advertisement in the Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation published in British Columbia.
(3) Failure to give the notice required by this section does not affect the validity of proceedings taken for the recovery of taxes under this Act.
34 (1) Taxes that are due may be recovered by action in any court as a debt due to the government, and the court may order costs in favour of or against the government.
(2) A copy of the part of the taxation roll that relates to the taxes sought to be recovered, purporting to be certified by the collector as a true copy, is admissible in all courts as evidence of the debt.
35 (1) If the collector knows or suspects that a person is or is about to become indebted or liable to make a payment to a taxpayer, the collector may, by registered letter or by a letter served personally, demand that that person pay all or part of the money otherwise payable to the taxpayer to the collector on account of the taxpayer’s liability under this Act.
(2) Without limiting subsection (1), if the collector knows or suspects that a person is about to advance money to, or make a payment on behalf of, or make a payment in respect of a negotiable instrument issued by a taxpayer, the collector may, by registered letter or by a letter served personally, demand that that person pay to the collector on account of the taxpayer’s liability under this Act the money that would otherwise be so advanced or paid.
(3) If under this section the collector demands that a person pay to the collector, on account of the liability under this Act of a taxpayer, money otherwise payable by that person to the taxpayer as interest, rent, remuneration, a dividend, an annuity or other periodic payment, the demand
(a) applies to all of those payments to be made by the person to the taxpayer until the liability under this Act is satisfied, and
(b) operates to require payments to the collector out of each payment of the amount stipulated by the collector in the demand.
(4) Money or a beneficial interest in money in a savings institution
(a) on deposit to the credit of a taxpayer at the time a demand is served, or
(b) deposited to the credit of a taxpayer after a demand is served
is money for which the savings institution is indebted to the taxpayer within the meaning of this section, but money on deposit or deposited to the credit of a taxpayer as described in paragraph (a) or (b) does not include money on deposit or deposited to the credit of a taxpayer in his or her capacity as a trustee.
(5) A demand under this section continues in effect until
(a) the demand is satisfied, or
(b) 90 days after the demand is mailed or served,
whichever is earlier.
(6) Despite subsection (5), if a demand is made in respect of a periodic payment referred to in subsection (3), the demand continues in effect until it is satisfied unless no periodic payment is made or is liable to be made within 90 days after the demand is mailed or served, in which case the demand ceases to have effect on the expiration of that period.
(7) A person who fails to comply with a demand under subsection (1) or (3) is liable to pay to the government an amount equal to the amount that the person was required under subsection (1) or (3), as the case may be, to pay to the collector.
(8) A person who fails to comply with a demand under subsection (2) is liable to pay to the government an amount equal to the lesser of
(a) the aggregate of the money advanced or paid, and
(b) the amount that the person was required under subsection (2) to pay to the collector.
(9) The receipt of the collector for money paid under this section is a good and sufficient discharge of the original liability to the extent of the payment.
(10) Money paid by any person to the collector in compliance with a demand under this section is deemed to have been paid by that person to the taxpayer.
(11) If a person carries on business under a name or style other than his or her own name, the demand under subsection (1), (2) or (3) may be addressed to the name or style under which the person carries on business and, in the case of personal service, is deemed to have been validly served if it was left with an adult person employed at the place of business of the addressee.
(12) If persons carry on business in partnership, the demand under subsection (1), (2) or (3) may be addressed to the partnership name and, in the case of personal service, is deemed to have been validly served if it was served on one of the partners or left with an adult person employed at the place of business of the partnership.
36 (1) A collector may, by himself or herself, or by a sheriff as his or her agent levy taxes due, with costs payable as between landlord and tenant, by distress, of
(a) the property for which the taxes were assessed or imposed, the personal property of the person liable to pay the taxes, or personal property in his or her possession, wherever they are found in British Columbia, or
(b) personal property found on his or her premises owned by or in the possession of another occupant of the premises and that would be subject to distress for arrears of rent due to a landlord.
(2) If distress is made for recovery of taxes, the collector must, by advertisement posted in at least 3 conspicuous public places in the area where the sale of the property distrained is to be made, give at least 10 days public notice of the time and place of the sale and the name of the taxpayer whose property is to be sold; and at the time named in the notice the collector or his or her agent must sell at public auction the property distrained, or so much as is necessary.
(3) If the property distrained is sold for more than the taxes and costs and no claim to the surplus is made by another person, on the ground that the property sold belonged to him or her or that he or she was entitled by lien or other right to the surplus, the surplus must be paid to the person in whose possession the property was when the distress was made and his or her receipt taken.
(4) If a claim is made by the person for whose taxes the property was distrained, and the claim is admitted, the surplus must be paid to the claimant and his or her receipt taken.
(5) If the claim is contested, the surplus must be retained by the collector until the rights of the parties have been determined by action at law or otherwise.
37 (1) Despite other action taken under this Part, if payment is not made of taxes due and payable under this Act, the Surveyor of Taxes may issue his or her certificate stating
(a) the description of the property taxed,
(b) the amount of due or delinquent taxes remaining unpaid, including interest and penalty,
(c) the years for which the tax is owing, and
(d) the name of the owner, occupier or other person liable for payment.
(2) The Surveyor of Taxes may file the certificate with any district registrar of the Supreme Court, and the filed certificate has the same effect and all proceedings may be taken on it as if it were a judgment of the court for recovery of a simple contract debt of the amount stated in the certificate against the person or persons named in it.
38 A tenant or occupant may deduct, from his or her rent, taxes paid by the tenant or occupant, if those taxes could also have been recovered from the landlord or previous tenant or occupant, unless there is a special agreement to the contrary between the tenant or occupant and the landlord.
39 (1) In this section and in section 40, "notice" means notice given under and in accordance with this section or the regulations.
(2) Despite any other action for the recovery of taxes under this Act, if any taxes for a calendar year remain unpaid until the end of November of the second year after that calendar year, the property in respect of which the taxes remain unpaid are, subject to subsections (3) and (4), absolutely forfeited to and vested in the government clear of all charges other than those set out in section 276 (2) of the Land Title Act.
(3) Property does not forfeit under subsection (2) until the Surveyor of Taxes gives notice to the owner of the property and to each registered charge holder who may be affected and, for the purposes of that subsection, if notice has been given, the date on which property forfeits is, for nonpayment of taxes for a calendar year, the later of
(a) December 1 of the second year after that calendar year, and
(b) the 40th day after the date on which the notice was given.
(4) If any taxes for a calendar year remain unpaid on December 1 of the first year after that calendar year, the payment of those taxes does not prevent forfeiture unless the payment
(a) includes all taxes then due and payable, costs and fees, and
(b) is made before forfeiture occurs under this section.
(5) Properties forfeited under this section must be administered by the Minister of Environment, Lands and Parks or another minister designated by the Lieutenant Governor in Council under this subsection for all or particular properties.
(6) The notice must state
(a) that the property is subject to forfeiture under this section,
(b) the amount of all taxes, costs and fees that are due and payable to the date of the notice,
(c) the date on which the property forfeits,
(d) the right to prevent forfeiture by payment under this section, and
(e) that on forfeiture under this section, the property will vest in the government clear of all charges other than those set out in section 276 (2) of the Land Title Act.
(7) The notice must be given by
(a) mailing it to the person entitled to it at that person’s last known address or to the address of that person that is specified in the records of the land title office, or
(b) publishing it in the Gazette and in at least one newspaper of general circulation in British Columbia and one newspaper of general circulation in or nearest the area in which the property is located.
40 (1) In this section, "interested person" in relation to property means a person who under section 39 (3) received or was entitled to receive notice respecting the property and includes a person acting on his or her behalf.
(2) Property that has been forfeited under this Act for nonpayment of taxes vests in the person from whom it was forfeited on an interested person paying, at any time during the first year after the forfeiture, the sum of the following:
(a) the prescribed fee;
(b) the total amount of taxes owing to the government in respect of the property at the date of forfeiture;
(c) the taxes that at the date of payment would have been payable but for the forfeiture;
(d) any costs incurred by the Minister of Environment, Lands and Parks after the date of forfeiture
(i) for maintaining or improving the property, or
(ii) for cleaning up or remedying any contamination of the property by hazardous substances, including costs incurred in connection with mitigating a threat to the environment or to the health of a person as a result of that contamination.
(3) When property vests under subsection (2) in the person from whom it was forfeited, any charge that was cleared from the title to the property under section 39 (2) is reinstated in accordance with the priorities existing immediately before forfeiture.
(4) At any time during the second and third years after property has been forfeited under this Act for nonpayment of taxes, an interested person may on payment of the prescribed fee apply to the Surveyor of Taxes for an order under subsection (5).
(5) The Surveyor of Taxes may, if he or she considers it just and equitable and on terms he or she considers appropriate, order that
(a) the property be vested in the person from whom it was forfeited, on payment by the applicant of
(i) the total amount owing at the date of forfeiture,
(ii) the taxes that would have been payable but for the forfeiture, and
(iii) any costs incurred in connection with the property by the Minister of Environment, Lands and Parks after the date of forfeiture for anything referred to in subsection (2) (d), and
(b) any charge that was cleared from the title to the property under section 39 (2) be reinstated in accordance with the priorities existing immediately before forfeiture.
41 (1) An order under section 40 (5) affecting title to land, or a copy of it certified by the Surveyor of Taxes, accompanied by an application for the registration of the order under the Land Title Act, on compliance with that Act, is sufficient authority for the registrar of the land title office to act in pursuance of the order.
(2) The certificate of the Surveyor of Taxes that the requirements of section 40 (2) have been satisfied respecting property described in the certificate, accompanied by an appropriate application for registration under the Land Title Act, on compliance with that Act, is sufficient authority for the registrar of the land title office to record the changes to title made under that section.
42 (1) The collector must not sell property if the fee simple is in the government, but if taxes are delinquent for property so held by the government, the collector must make a final demand by notice mailed to the lessee, licensee, purchaser or other person in whose favour a lease, licence, agreement for sale, notice of acceptance of application to purchase or other record for the property has been made or issued, giving him or her 3 months from the day on which the notice is mailed to pay the delinquent taxes, and giving him or her notice that, if they are not paid within the period, the lease, licence, agreement for sale, notice of acceptance of application to purchase or other record may be cancelled.
(2) In default of payment by the taxpayer of the delinquent taxes, plus the current year’s taxes, within the 3 months, the collector must forward to the minister who issued tenure a statement of the fact of the default, the property for which it has taken place and the name of the defaulting taxpayer.
(3) The minister who issued tenure must by notice in writing begin cancellation proceedings under the Land Act or other applicable enactment, for cancellation of the lease, licence, agreement for sale, notice of acceptance of application to purchase or other record for the property.
(4) If it is shown to the satisfaction of the minister who issued tenure that the defaulting taxpayer by reason of poverty, sickness or other sufficient cause has been unable to pay the amount due in the time limited for payment in the notice under subsection (3), that minister may extend the time for payment for a further 3 months before the cancellation becomes effective.
(5) On cancellation of the tenure, the minister who issued tenure must notify the collector and assessor of the cancellation.
43 If a mineral claim the land surface of which is subdivided into lots of a registered subdivision plan is situated in a municipality, and the property in the mineral claim has been sold and conveyed to a tax sale purchaser, the Lieutenant Governor in Council may vest in the municipality surface rights to streets, lanes and highways belonging to the government shown on the subdivision plan.
44 (1) In the case of a property that has been Crown granted under the Mineral Tenure Act, under an ordinance or Act affecting precious or base minerals, or under the Land Act or another statute providing for granting of land by the government, if the property so granted has become forfeited to and vested in the government under this Part and has not been sold or leased under this Part, and it is for any reason inconvenient and inadvisable to deal with the property under this Part, the Lieutenant Governor in Council may direct the Surveyor General to cancel the survey, field notes and official plan of survey of the property forfeited, and the property is then for all purposes deemed to be Crown land of British Columbia within the meaning of the Land Act, and that Act applies to that land and to its sale, lease or other alienation as if no grant of the land had ever been issued.
(2) The Surveyor General, when directed, must by notice in the Gazette cancel the survey, field notes and official plan of survey of the property forfeited, and must forward for registration a notice of the cancellation to the registrar of the land title district in which the land is located.
45 If land for which taxes are due to the government has been included in a municipality, or within an extension of it, the collector has the powers for recovery of the taxes by action in court, by distress and by sale of property, conferred by this Act, as if the land had not been included in the municipality.
46 The powers conferred by this Part for recovery of taxes by court proceedings, distress, cancellation of tenure and forfeiture may be exercised separately, concurrently or cumulatively.
47 (1) On satisfactory evidence being produced to the assessor that a parcel of land for which taxes are due has been subdivided by registered plan of subdivision, or part of another parcel of land on which taxes are due has been sold and a deed executed and delivered to the purchaser, the assessor may, by certificate signed by the assessor, deposit with the collector an apportionment of the land and improvement assessed values as approved by a review panel, between
(a) the separate parts of the subdivided parcel shown on the plan, or
(b) the part of the other parcel sold and conveyed and the remainder of the parcel.
(2) The collector may apportion the taxes to the separate parcels, receive payment of the taxes so apportioned for part of the subdivided parcel or for the part of the other parcel sold and conveyed, and leave the remainder of the subdivided parcel or other parcel chargeable with the remainder of the taxes due.
48 (1) The collector must give on demand, to a person making an application, a written statement of the taxes, penalty and interest outstanding or a statement that no taxes are outstanding, as the case may be, at that date and the collector may charge for a search and written statement a fee that is established under the regulations.
(2) The collector must not charge a person for a search if taxes found to be owing are paid promptly.
49 (1) If taxes on land with timber in commercial quantities on it, from which the timber is being cut or removed, have become delinquent, the collector may make an order in writing, one copy of which must be served on the taxpayer or on the person by whom the timber is being cut or removed, and another copy of which must be posted in a conspicuous position on the land, prohibiting the cutting and removal of timber from that land until the delinquent taxes have been paid in full.
(2) If an order has been made under this section, a person who, while the delinquent taxes or a part of them remain unpaid, cuts or removes timber from the land for which the order is made commits an offence.
50 For the purposes of this Act, the Lieutenant Governor in Council may divide British Columbia into collection districts, define their boundaries, group or subdivide them for their better administration, alter their boundaries and create new districts.
51 A Surveyor of Taxes, collectors and deputies of the collection districts as are considered necessary for the administration of this Act must be appointed under the Public Service Act as officers of the Ministry of Finance and Corporate Relations.
52 (1) The Surveyor of Taxes, under the direction of the minister, is charged with the administration and enforcement of this Act.
(2) The Surveyor of Taxes has and may exercise all the power conferred on a collector under this Act.
53 Collectors must obey ministerial rules and regulations that are issued for the purposes of this Act.
54 If taxes become delinquent and there is no property on which they may be levied, or there are no goods and chattels that can be distrained for them, or in default of sufficient distress, the collector must, at the time that may be directed by the Surveyor of Taxes, forward to the Surveyor of Taxes a statement giving a detailed list of all taxes on the collector’s books that the collector considers uncollectable, showing the efforts that have been made to recover the taxes, and that there are no property or effects, that the property or effects are insufficient for the recovery of the taxes or that the person assessed has left the country, and the Surveyor of Taxes, if instructed by the minister, must cause the taxes to be cancelled on the books of the collector.
55 If the collector for a district neglects or refuses to perform his or her duties, another collector designated by the Surveyor of Taxes or a collector appointed temporarily for the purpose must, until the appointment of a new collector, perform those duties and must certify on the taxation roll the name of the delinquent collector and, if known, the cause of the delinquency.
56 A collector commits an offence and is liable to the penalties under the Offence Act if the collector, acting under this Act, does any of the following:
(a) makes an unjust or fraudulent levy and collection;
(b) willfully and fraudulently inserts in the taxation roll the name of a person who should not be entered;
(c) omits the name of a person who should be entered;
(d) willfully omits to perform a duty required of the collector by this Act.
57 (1) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations referred to in section 41 of the Interpretation Act.
(2) Without limiting subsection (1), the Lieutenant Governor in Council may make the following regulations:
(a) vesting in the Surveyor of Taxes powers and rights to enable the Surveyor of Taxes to carry out section 39, and administer the regulations effectively;
(b) prescribing fees to be paid for property that becomes subject to section 39;
(c) prescribing fees for the purposes of section 40;
(d) respecting appeals to the minister from orders and directions of the Surveyor of Taxes;
(e) defining any word or expression used in this Act or the regulations that is not defined in this Act;
(f) enlarging, extending or altering times or dates as the Lieutenant Governor in Council sees fit and changing practice, procedure or method if
(i) the time limited for an act or step is insufficient,
(ii) the act or step has not been taken,
(iii) it appears to the Lieutenant Governor in Council that an alteration in dates is necessary or desirable,
(iv) a proceeding under this Act has been taken and failed,
(v) in the opinion of the Lieutenant Governor in Council, an ambiguity or difficulty arises in the construction or application of this Act, or
(vi) any change of practice, procedure or method is considered desirable;
(g) respecting matters for which no express, or only partial or imperfect, provision has been made;
(h) establishing the fees and methods of determining the fees that may be charged under section 48.
58 (1) If an act, matter or thing required by this Act to be made, performed or done by the collector, or other officer appointed to carry out this Act, at or within a fixed time cannot be or is not so made, performed or done, the Lieutenant Governor in Council may, by order, appoint a further or other time for making, performing or doing it, whether or not the time in which it ought to have been made, performed or done has elapsed or expired.
(2) An act, matter or thing made, performed or done in the time specified by the order in council is as valid as if it had been made, performed or done in the time set by this Act.