Gross Proceeds Tax

Companies mining or exploring for nonferrous minerals or energy resources are subject to Property Tax the same as other businesses.

For commercial and industrial property, the assessor’s estimated market value is multiplied by a class rate to obtain gross tax capacity. The first $150,000 of market value is taxed at 1.5 percent, while a 2 percent rate applies to market value over $150,000. To determine the tax, the product of the market value and class rate must be multiplied by the local tax rate plus the 48.641 percent state general Property Tax rate for taxes payable in 2016. In St. Louis County, where the majority of Minnesota’s mining industry is located, the local tax rates payable in 2016 varied from a low of 82 percent to a high of approximately 414 percent. If a referendum tax is passed, the referendum rate times the full market value must be added.

If a company is mining minerals or energy resources subject to the Gross Proceeds Tax under M.S. 298.015, then the following property is exempt:

• Deposits of ores, metals, and minerals and the lands in which they are contained
•  All real and personal property used in mining, quarrying, producing, or refining ores, minerals, or metals, including lands occupied by or used in connection with the mining, quarrying, production, or ore refining facilities;
•  Concentrate

The Gross Proceeds Tax applies to the mining or producing of nonferrous minerals and energy resources, i.e., all ores, metals and minerals mined, extracted, produced or refined within Minnesota, except for sand, silica sand, gravel, building stone, crushed rock, limestone, granite, dimension granite, dimension stone, horticultural peat, clay, soil, iron ore and taconite concentrates.

The tax is equal to 0.4 percent of the gross proceeds from mining in Minnesota. Gross income from mining or producing nonferrous minerals or energy resources is calculated differently from the method used for ferrous minerals.

If you have all required permits to mine and are subject to the Gross Proceeds Tax, there is a $2,000,000 annual minimum payment until mining starts, unless:

•  The gross proceeds tax due in a given year is greater than zero  

For non-equity or arms-length transactions, gross income is based on actual sales. Generally, for non-arms-length transactions, gross income is based on the average annual market price as published in the Engineering and Mining Journal.

The Gross Proceeds Tax was designed to apply to mining and beneficiation, generally to the point of a saleable product. In the case of some hydrometallurgical processes, the saleable product may be a refined metal. 

Distribution of the Tax

If the minerals or energy resources are mined outside the Taconite Assistance Area, the tax is deposited in the state’s General Fund. If they are mined or extracted within the Taconite Assistance Area, the tax is distributed to:

•  Regular School Fund (20%)
•  Taconite Municipal Aid Account (10%)
•  Taconite Property Tax Relief (20%), using St. Louis County as fiscal agent
•  Minnesota Department of Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation (IRRR) (5%)
•  Douglas J. Johnson Economic Protection Trust Fund (5%)
•  Taconite Environmental Protection Fund (5%)

Distributions are made annually on July 15; however, there are currently no companies subject to the Gross Proceeds Tax.

For more information, see Minnesota Statutes 298.015-298.018