http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/
‘The impression that a placer miner has a room full of gold that they can roll in — just doesn’t exist’
The Klondike Placer Miners’ Association (KPMA) says modernizing the royalty rates for placer gold won’t help the Yukon government avoid budget deficits. About 35 placer miners presented their opinions to the territory’s financial advisory panel at a meeting this week in Dawson City.
The independent panel issued a draft report earlier this month, spelling out ways the government might balance its books in the future. One recommendation is to review taxation on mining with a possible increase on the royalty rate on placer gold operations.
But placer miners say their industry makes a valuable contribution to local economies — and should not be taxed further. KPMA president Mike McDougall says although miners pay only about 37 and a half cents tax per ounce of gold — a royalty rate that hasn’t changed in a century — they also pay business and personal income tax.
“We pay exactly as a family farm does — we pay tax rates of the 21st century,” McDougall said. “Does a family farm pay a royalty on the wheat they produce? No. They pay tax to the Canadian government on the profits that they make from the sale of that wheat. We do the same thing — we pay a tax based on our profits, to the government of Canada and the government of Yukon.”
The current royalty on gold shipped from Yukon is 2.5 per cent of the value, but for the purpose of the tax the value of an ounce of gold is only $15. The actual value on Thursday was pegged at nearly $1,600.
For the rest of this article: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/yukon-placer-miners-royalty-rates-panel-1.4299753