Taxes on international bridges and tunnels
373.1(1)The owner of a bridge or tunnel that crosses a river forming the boundary between Ontario and the United States shall pay a tax on the bridge or tunnel structure to the local municipality in which the Ontario end of the bridge or tunnel is located. Amount of tax (2)The amount of the tax for a taxation year is the prescribed amount plus the amount under subsection (3) for the taxation year, if applicable. Additional amount (3)For prescribed bridges or tunnels, the amount of the tax shall be increased by any amount by which the American municipal and school taxes for the year on the bridge or tunnel exceed the Ontario municipal taxes for the year on the bridge or tunnel, determined in accordance with the following: 1. The American municipal and school taxes on the bridge or tunnel are the taxes for municipal or school purposes on the bridge or tunnel structure and on land used for the purposes of the bridge or tunnel, converted to Canadian dollars in accordance with the prescribed method. 2. The Ontario municipal taxes on the bridge or tunnel are the taxes for municipal purposes on the bridge or tunnel structure and on land used for the purposes of the bridge or tunnel. Distribution of the tax (4)The local municipality shall pay a share of the tax to the upper-tier municipality of which it forms part for municipal purposes, if any. 1997, c. 29, s. 44. Amount of share (5)The upper-tier municipality’s share of tax under this section shall be determined in accordance with the following:  Where, “Total commercial tax” means the total tax levied on land in the commercial property class and other property classes prescribed for the purposes of this definition, for upper-tier and lower-tier purposes, in the local municipality; “Upper-tier commercial tax” means the amount of the Total commercial tax levied for upper-tier purposes. 1997, c. 29, s. 44; 1998, c. 3, s. 24. When share paid (6)The local municipality shall pay the upper-tier municipality its share of the tax under this section for a taxation year in accordance with the following: 1. The upper-tier municipality’s share of the prescribed amount referred to in subsection (2) shall be paid, i. if the upper-tier municipality is a county, on or before December 15 of the taxation year, or ii. if the upper-tier municipality is not a county, on or before the day the local municipality’s last instalment of taxes for the taxation year is due under the upper-tier rating by-law. 2. The upper-tier municipality’s share of the amount under subsection (3) shall be paid on or before January 31 of the year after the taxation year. Information from owners (7)The council of the municipality to which the tax must be paid may, by by-law, require owners of bridges and tunnels to provide information for the purposes of verifying the amount of the tax.The by-law may specify the information to be provided and the date by which it must be provided. Regulations (8)The Minister may make regulations prescribing anything that under this section is to be prescribed. Taxes are taxes on land (9)Taxes under this section shall be deemed to be taxes on the land used for the purposes of the bridge or tunnel. Exception, railway bridges (10)This section does not apply with respect to a bridge or tunnel used exclusively for railway purposes. Definition (11)In this section, “land used for the purposes of the bridge or tunnel” includes land at the end of the bridge or tunnel used in connection with the bridge or tunnel, including duty-free stores. 1997, c. 29, s. 44.