Minnesota Statutes Excise and Sales Taxes (Ch. 296-299) § 298.24. Tax on taconite and iron sulphides

Subdivision 1. Imposed; calculation. (a) For concentrate produced in 2013, there is imposed upon taconite and iron sulphides, and upon the mining and quarrying thereof, and upon the production of iron ore concentrate therefrom, and upon the concentrate so produced, a tax of $2.56 per gross ton of merchantable iron ore concentrate produced therefrom.

(b) For concentrates produced in 2014 and subsequent years, the tax rate shall be equal to the preceding year's tax rate plus an amount equal to the preceding year's tax rate multiplied by the percentage increase in the implicit price deflator from the fourth quarter of the second preceding year to the fourth quarter of the preceding year. “Implicit price deflator” means the implicit price deflator for the gross domestic product prepared by the Bureau of Economic Analysis of the United States Department of Commerce.

(c) An additional tax is imposed equal to three cents per gross ton of merchantable iron ore concentrate for each one percent that the iron content of the product exceeds 72 percent, when dried at 212 degrees Fahrenheit.

(d) The tax on taconite and iron sulphides shall be imposed on the average of the production for the current year and the previous two years. The rate of the tax imposed will be the current year's tax rate. This clause shall not apply in the case of the closing of a taconite facility if the property taxes on the facility would be higher if this clause and section 298.25 were not applicable.

(e) The tax under paragraph (a) is also imposed upon other iron-bearing material as described in section 298.405 on the tonnage of merchantable iron ore concentrate produced therefrom. The tax on other iron-bearing material shall be imposed on the current year production. The rate of the tax imposed is the current year's tax rate.

(f) If the tax or any part of the tax imposed by this subdivision is held to be unconstitutional, a tax of $2.56 per gross ton of merchantable iron ore concentrate produced shall be imposed.

(g) Consistent with the intent of this subdivision to impose a tax based upon the weight of merchantable iron ore concentrate, the commissioner of revenue may indirectly determine the weight of merchantable iron ore concentrate included in fluxed pellets by subtracting the weight of the limestone, dolomite, or olivine derivatives or other basic flux additives included in the pellets from the weight of the pellets. For purposes of this paragraph, “fluxed pellets” are pellets produced in a process in which limestone, dolomite, olivine, or other basic flux additives are combined with merchantable iron ore concentrate. No subtraction from the weight of the pellets shall be allowed for binders, mineral and chemical additives other than basic flux additives, or moisture.