5-911004
Dear sir:
Re: Provincial (Que.) Reimbursement of Real Estate Taxes for Qualified Forest Producers.
This is in reply to your letter of April 8, 1991 in which you requested information about the federal income tax treatment of the above-mentioned reimbursements.
After reviewing the applicable statutes, we telephoned you on April 19th to discuss our understanding of the reimbursement program and the federal income tax treatment thereof. We now wish to briefly recap that discussion.
1. The reimbursement program is administered by sections 120 to 124 of the Quebec Forest Act and sections 220.2 to 220.13 of the Quebec Municipal Taxation Act. It is our understanding that, generally, in order to promote reforestation on privately owned woodlots, the Province of Quebec in any given year will reimburse up to 85% of the cost of real estate taxes pertaining to such woodlots. Eligible owners must comply with a forest development plan authorized by the Quebec Ministry of Energy and Resources.
2. 24(1)
3. Under the relevant Acts, a 1990 application for the above reimbursement may be made by an individual, by filing a Quebec Income Tax Return on or before April 30th, 1991 and submitting the forest producer's certificate which was issued by the Quebec Ministry of Energy and Resources and a statement of forest development expenses incurred during the 1990 taxation
4. In general terms, the amount of reimbursement cannot exceed the total expenses incurred in a given year on qualifying forest development. However, pursuant to a June 22, 1990 amendment to the Quebec Forest Act, expenses incurred in a taxation year in excess of the maximum reimbursement, will now be available for determining the reimbursement for each of the three subsequent years.
5
6. 24(1)
The above comments are merely the expressions of opinion of those Revenue Canada officials named herein and as such should not be construed as advance income tax rulings, nor are they binding on the Department. Our practice is to make this specific disclaimer in all instances in which we provide an opinion. We refer you in this respect to paragraphs 21 and 22 of Information Circular 70-6R2.
Yours truly,
DirectorBilingual Services and ResourceIndustries DivisionRulings Directorate