Acts and Regulations

2011, c.201 - Pari-Mutuel Tax Act

Full text
Current to 1 January 2024
2011, c.201
Pari-Mutuel Tax Act
Deposited May 13, 2011
Definitions
1The following definitions apply in this Act.
“bettor” means a person who bets through the agency of a pari-mutuel system. (parieur)
“collector” means a person who operates, conducts or manages a pari-mutuel system. (percepteur)
“Commissioner” means the Provincial Tax Commissioner provided for under the Revenue Administration Act. (commissaire)
“Minister” means the Minister of Finance and Treasury Board. (ministre)
“pari-mutuel system” means a pari-mutuel system of betting through the agency of which bets may be placed and recorded and tickets or other documents showing the amount of money bet by a bettor may be issued to the bettor. (système de pari mutuel)
1981, c.P-1.1, s.1; 1983, c.R-10.22, s.46; 2019, c.29, s.113
Administration
2(1)The Minister is responsible for the administration of this Act.
2(2)The Commissioner shall act under the instructions of the Minister or Deputy Minister and have general supervision over all matters relating to this Act and perform the duties that are assigned to the Commissioner by this Act, the Lieutenant-Governor in Council, the Minister or the Deputy Minister.
1981, c.P-1.1, s.2; 1983, c.R-10.22, s.46
Imposition of tax
3(1)A bettor shall pay to the Minister for the raising of revenue for Provincial purposes a tax at the rate of 11% of the amount bet.
3(2)A person required to pay a tax under subsection (1) shall pay the tax at the time he or she places the bet to the collector.
3(3)The tax imposed under subsection (1) shall be computed to the nearest cent; ½ cent shall be deemed to be $0.01; the minimum tax payable shall be $0.02.
3(4)For purposes of calculating the tax imposed by subsection (1), the amount bet includes the amount of the tax.
1981, c.P-1.1, s.3
Registration required
4No person shall operate, conduct or manage a pari-mutuel system of betting or receive bets through the agency of a pari-mutuel system unless the person is the holder of a valid and subsisting registration certificate issued under this Act with respect to that system.
1981, c.P-1.1, s.4
Application for registration certificate
5(1)The Minister may issue a registration certificate to a person with respect to a pari-mutuel system operated, conducted or managed by that person on application to the Minister in the manner and form prescribed by the regulations and on payment of the fee prescribed by the regulations.
5(2) If in the Minister’s opinion it is in the public interest to do so, the Minister may refuse to issue a registration certificate.
5(3)A registration certificate shall be kept at the location of the pari-mutuel system with respect to which it was issued and is not transferable.
1981, c.P-1.1, s.5
Collector to be agents
6A collector is an agent of the Minister for the purposes of collecting the tax imposed and payable under section 3.
1981, c.P-1.1, s.6
When tax collected
7A collector shall collect the tax imposed and payable under section 3 from each bettor in cash at the time the bettor’s bet is placed.
1981, c.P-1.1, s.7
Obligation to pay tax
8A collector shall not permit or authorize a person to place a bet, or shall not be a party or privy to a person placing a bet, through the agency of a pari-mutuel system without paying the tax imposed under this Act.
1981, c.P-1.1, s.8
Applications, records and returns
9No person shall make a false statement in an application, record or return required to be made or kept under this Act or the regulations.
1981, c.P-1.1, s.15
Offences and penalties
10(1)A person who violates or fails to comply with subsection 5(3) or a provision of the regulations commits an offence punishable under Part 2 of the Provincial Offences Procedure Act as a category B offence.
10(2)A person who violates or fails to comply with subsection 3(2) commits an offence punishable under Part 2 of the Provincial Offences Procedure Act as a category C offence.
10(3)A person who violates or fails to comply with subsection 3(1) or section 4, 7 or 8 commits an offence punishable under Part 2 of the Provincial Offences Procedure Act as a category E offence.
10(4)A person who violates or fails to comply with section 9 commits an offence punishable under Part 2 of the Provincial Offences Procedure Act as a category F offence.
1981, c.P-1.1, s.27; 1990, c.61, s.102
Certificate as evidence
11(1)In a prosecution or other proceeding under this Act, a certificate signed by the Minister or the Commissioner or bearing a signature purporting to be that of the Minister or the Commissioner stating that
(a) a person at a specified time did or did not have a registration certificate as required under this Act,
(b) a person failed to pay tax or to collect tax as required under this Act, or
(c) a person failed to keep the records in the form, containing the information and in the place required under this Act and the regulations,
may be adduced in evidence without proof of the appointment, authority or signature of the Minister or the Commissioner and, when adduced, is, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, proof of the facts stated in the certificate, and when the person named in the certificate has the same name as the accused, that the person named in the certificate is the accused.
11(2)A report, certificate or other document signed by the Minister or the Commissioner or bearing a signature purporting to be that of the Minister or the Commissioner may be adduced in evidence in any court without proof of the appointment, authority or signature of the Minister or the Commissioner and, when adduced, is, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, proof of the facts stated in the report, certificate or other document.
1981, c.P-1.1, s.28; 1983, c.R-10.22, s.46
Service by registered mail
12A notice, order or other document served under this Act by registered mail shall be deemed to have been received by the person to whom it was addressed not later than the fifth day after the day of mailing.
1981, c.P-1.1, s.29
Court orders
13On convicting a person for an offence under this Act, the court, in addition to any penalty imposed, may order the person to pay to the Minister or to the court for the benefit of the Minister any amount owing under this Act, and in default of payment the person is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months.
1981, c.P-1.1, s.32
Limitation period
14A prosecution for a violation of this Act shall be commenced within three years after the time of the violation.
1981, c.P-1.1, s.33
When corporation commits offence
15(1)When a corporation commits an offence under this Act, an officer, director, employee or agent of that corporation who directed, authorized, assented to, acquiesced in or participated in the commission of the offence is a party to and commits the offence and on conviction is liable to the punishment provided for the offence whether or not the corporation has been prosecuted or convicted.
15(2)Nothing in subsection (1) relieves the corporation who committed an offence under this Act for liability for the offence.
15(3)In construing and enforcing this Act, the act, omission, neglect or failure of an officer, director, employee or agent of a corporation, acting within the scope of the officer’s, director’s, employee’s or agent’s employment or instructions, is the act, omission, neglect or failure of the corporation.
1981, c.P-1.1, s.34; 1990, c.22, s.38
Regulations
16The Lieutenant-Governor in Council may make regulations
(a) respecting forms for the purposes of this Act;
(b) respecting the manner in which applications are to be made for registration certificates under this Act, and the fees payable for them.
1981, c.P-1.1, s.36; 1983, c.R-10.22, s.46
N.B. This Act was proclaimed and came into force September 1, 2011.
N.B. This Act is consolidated to December 20, 2019.