HER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of British Columbia, enacts as follows:

Income Tax Act

1 Section 1 (1) of the Income Tax Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 215, is amended by repealing the definition of "regulation" and substituting the following:

"regulation" means a regulation made under this Act; .

2 Section 1 (8) (d) is amended by striking out "10 to 13 and".

3 Section 1 is amended by adding the following subsection:

(10) In this Act or a regulation made under this Act, if a reference to a provision of the federal Act or the federal regulations is followed by italicized text in square brackets that is or purports to be descriptive of the subject matter of the provision, the text in square brackets

(a) is not part of this Act or the regulation, and

(b) is to be considered to have been added editorially for convenience of reference only.

4 Section 8 (1) is amended by repealing the definition of "qualified relation" and substituting the following:

"qualified relation", in relation to an individual for a taxation year, means the person who, at the end of December 31 of that year,

(a) is resident in British Columbia, and

(b) is the individual's cohabiting spouse or common-law partner, as defined in section 122.6 of the federal Act.

5 Section 8 (2) is repealed and the following substituted:

(2) An eligible individual is entitled to a sales tax credit for a taxation year if the individual files, with the individual's return of income under section 29 for the taxation year, a form provided by the minister that contains the information necessary to establish the individual's claim for the sales tax credit.

6 Sections 9 to 13 are repealed.

7 Section 16 is amended

(a) in subsection (1) (a) by repealing the description of "C" and substituting the following:

(b) in subsection (5) by repealing the definition of "specified partnership income", and

(c) by adding the following subsection:

(7) A corporation to which this section applies that assigns under section 125 (3.2) of the federal Act all or any portion of its business limit for a taxation year must file, with the return of income filed by the corporation under section 29 for the taxation year, the forms, containing the information, required by the Commissioner of Income Tax.

8 Section 25.1 (1) is amended in the definition of "excluded expense" by striking out "or" at the end of paragraph (f.2) and by adding the following paragraph:

(f.3) an expense, in respect of a mineral resource, that

(i) is described in paragraph (c) (ii) (A), (C) or (D) of the definition of "qualified mining exploration expense",

(ii) is incurred after the date this paragraph comes into force,

(iii) is incurred before a new mine in the mineral resource comes into production in reasonable commercial quantities, and

(iv) results in revenue or can reasonably be expected to result in revenue earned before the new mine comes into production in reasonable commercial quantities,

except to the extent that the total of all such expenses in respect of the mineral resource exceeds the total of those revenues, or .

9 Section 29 (3) is amended by repealing paragraph (b) (ii) and substituting the following:

(ii) deemed by section 13.071 [BC early childhood tax benefit] of this Act to be an overpayment on account of the taxpayer's liability under this Act for the year.

10 Section 30 (2) is repealed.

11 Section 38 (1) is amended by striking out "Section 163 (1)" and substituting "Section 163 (1), (1.1)".

12 Section 38 (1) (a) is amended by striking out "section 10 or 13.071 of this Act, as applicable," and substituting "section 13.071 of this Act,".

13 Section 42 (2) (a) is amended

(a) in subparagraph (i) by striking out "section 2, 10 or 13.071" and substituting "section 2 or 13.071",

(b) by repealing subparagraphs (ii), (iii) and (iii.1), and

(c) by adding "or" at the end of subparagraph (ii.2).

14 Section 47 (3) is amended by striking out "25.1 (7)," and substituting "25.1 (7) and (7.1),".

15 Section 48 is amended by adding the following subsections:

(5) Subject to subsection (6), a regulation made under this Act may be made retroactive to January 1, 2008 or a later date, and if made retroactive is deemed to have come into force on the specified date.

(6) Subsection (5) does not apply to

(a) a regulation that may be made retroactive under another provision of this Act,

(b) a regulation that may be made under section 8.1 (8), 8.2 (8), 20 (8) or 96 (2.1), (2.2) or (2.3).

16 Section 64 (5) (i) is amended by striking out "10 (3) (a) or".

17 Section 69 (5) (a) and (b) is repealed.

18 Section 128 (2) is amended by striking out "under this Part" and substituting "under Division 3 or 3.1 of this Part".

 
Transitional and Other Provisions

Income Tax Act transition – BC Family Bonus

19  Despite the repeal of section 11 of the Income Tax Act (British Columbia), section 122.62 (2) of the Income Tax Act (Canada) continues to apply for the purposes of sections 10 to 13 of the Income Tax Act (British Columbia), as those sections read before their repeal by this Act.

Income Tax Act transition – small business rate

20  Section 16 of the Income Tax Act (British Columbia), as amended by this Act, applies to

(a) taxation years that begin after March 21, 2016, and

(b) a person's taxation year that begins before March 22, 2016 and ends after March 21, 2016 if

(i) the person would be entitled to make an assignment to a corporation under section 125 (3.2) or (8) of the Income Tax Act (Canada) if section 125 (3.2) or (8) of that Act applied to that taxation year of the person,

(ii) the taxation year of the corporation referred to in subparagraph (i) begins after March 21, 2016,

(iii) the person makes such an assignment for the person's taxation year that begins before March 22, 2016 and ends after March 21, 2016 and the assignment is to the corporation for its taxation year that begins after March 21, 2016, and

(iv) the person files with the Minister of National Revenue the form referred to in section 44 (9) (b) (iv) of the Budget Implementation Act, 2016, No. 2 (Canada) on or before the date referred to in that section.

Income Tax Act transition – application of
Income Tax Act (Canada) – failure to report income

21  Section 163 (1.1) of the Income Tax Act (Canada), as that section applies for the purposes of the Income Tax Act (British Columbia), applies to taxation years that begin after 2014.

Insurance Premium Tax Act – retroactive regulation

22  (1) A regulation made on or before December 31, 2018 for the purposes of section 15.1 (1) of the Insurance Premium Tax Act may be made retroactive to June 13, 2016 or a later date, and if made retroactive is deemed to have come into force on the specified date.

(2) Section 1 of the Insurance Premium Tax Act Interest Regulation, B.C. Reg. 52/2003, as that section read at the applicable time before that regulation was repealed, applies to interest payable on amounts due on or after January 1, 2009 to the government under section 15.1 (1) of the Insurance Premium Tax Act.

(3) Subsection (2) is retroactive to the extent necessary to give it full force and effect and must not be construed as lacking retroactive effect in relation to any matter because it makes no specific reference to that matter.

Logging Tax Act – retroactive regulation

23  (1) A regulation made on or before December 31, 2018 for the purposes of section 21.1 (1) of the Logging Tax Act may be made retroactive to July 5, 2016 or a later date, and if made retroactive is deemed to have come into force on the specified date.

(2) Section 1 of the Logging Tax Act Interest Regulation, B.C. Reg. 53/2003, as that section read at the applicable time before that regulation was repealed, applies to interest payable on amounts due, in respect of taxation years beginning on or after January 1, 2009, to the government under section 21.1 (1) of the Logging Tax Act.

(3) Subsection (2) is retroactive to the extent necessary to give it full force and effect and must not be construed as lacking retroactive effect in relation to any matter because it makes no specific reference to that matter.

Commencement

24  The provisions of this Act referred to in column 1 of the following table come into force as set out in column 2 of the table: