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Potlatch Act 1967

CONSOLIDATED ACTS OF SAMOA 2009

POTLATCH ACT 1967

Arrangement of Provisions

TITLE

1. Short title
2. Interpretation
3. Effect of this Act
4. Conferring power to lease
5. Some relief from Customs import duty
6. Some relief from Customs export duty
7. Some relief to the Corporation from income tax
8. Some relief to expatriate employees of the Corporation from income tax
9. Annual report
10. Some relief to the Corporation from some other taxes
11. Savings

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THE POTLATCH ACT 1967
1967 No. 13

AN ACT to provide taxation and other concessions for specified periods to Potlatch Forests Incorporated and others as incentives to establish and operate a timber industry on the island of Savaii pursuant to a proposed agreement for that purpose between Potlatch Forests Incorporated and the Government of Samoa.

(12 December 1967)
(Commencement date: 12th December 1967)

1. Short title - This Act may be cited as the Potlatch Act 1967.

2. Interpretation - In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires:

"Act" includes Ordinance.

"Approved enterprise" means the timber industry enterprise on the island of Savaii to be established and operated by the Corporation pursuant to the said proposed agreement.

"Cabinet" means the Cabinet of the Independent State of Samoa.

"Collector" means the Collector of Customs.

"Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Inland Revenue.

"Customs Import Duty" includes primage duty.

"Date of production" means the 1st day of January 1972: Provided that, on the Corporation applying in writing to the Director before the end of the said period of 2 years, and furnishing such information as the Director requires, the Head of State, acting on the advice of Cabinet, may extend the said period of 2 years by not more than one year.

"Director" means the Director of Agriculture.

"Minister" means the Minister of Agriculture.

"Returns date year" means a year ending on the 31st day of December, or a year ending on any other date for which a taxpayer (with the consent of the Commissioner) has elected to make returns to the Commissioner of his income.

"Tax reduction period" means the period commencing on the date this Act comes into force and ending 10 years after the date of production.

"The Corporation" means Potlatch Forests Incorporated a Corporation incorporated in the State of Delaware and having its registered office at Lewiston in the State of Idaho, both in the United States of America, and includes any company or corporation promoted by Potlatch Forests Incorporated within or without Samoa for the sole or main purpose of performing or observing in Samoa all or any of the obligations of Potlatch Forests Incorporated under the said proposed agreement.

3. Effect of this Act - The provisions of this Act shall have effect notwithstanding anything to the contrary in any other Act.

4. Conferring power to lease - The Minister of Lands is hereby empowered to lease to the Corporation a parcel or parcels of land containing approximately 200 acres situated at or in vicinity of Asau on the island of Savai'i, the whole or part of which shall be part of the land taken under the Taking of Land Act 1964 by Proclamation dated the 1st day of February 1965 as a site for a township being part parcel 27 Flur IX Savai'i in the District of Vaisigano, for the purposes of the storage, sawing, milling, conversion, or other treatment of timber, the generation of electricity and the provision of office and residential accommodation for the Corporation's employees, for a term of 20 years at an annual rental of one thousand United States of America dollars ($US1,000) and otherwise subject to such covenants, conditions and stipulations as are agreed upon between the Minister of Lands and the Corporation, with one right of renewal for a second term of 20 years at an annual rental of $US2,000 and otherwise subject to the same covenants, conditions and stipulations, and if that right of renewal is exercised with one further right of renewal for a third term of 20 years at an annual rental of $US3000 and otherwise subject to the same covenants, conditions and stipulations.

5. Some relief from Customs import duty - (1) The Corporation shall be entitled during the whole of the tax reduction period to import into Samoa free of customs import duty, or to purchase in Samoa with benefit of refund of customs import duty, all building materials, plant, vehicles, machinery, tools (other than hand tools) and other apparatus or equipment which it satisfies the Collector are required for the establishment, erection or expansion of the approved enterprise or for the replacement, maintenance or repair of any such plant, vehicles or machinery.

(2) Section 18(2), (3) and (4) and sections 19 and 20 of the Enterprises Incentives Act 1965 shall be deemed to be incorporated in this section, and shall apply as if the "enterpriser" therein referred to was the Corporation, and as if the references therein to section 18 of that Act and that Act were respectively references to this section and this Act, and with any other necessary modifications.

6. Some relief from Customs export duty - (1) The Corporation shall be entitled, during the first 5 years from the date of production, to export from Samoa free of Customs export duty all or any of the products of the approved enterprise other than logs.

(2) On the Corporation applying in writing to the Director, before the end of the said first 5 years, and furnishing such information as the director requires, the Head of State, acting on the advice of Cabinet, may grant to the Corporation an extension of the period of freedom from Customs export duty other than on logs for not more than a further 5 years.

(3) The Corporation shall enter for export all products of the approved enterprise which it proposes to export, and the Collector shall calculate and record Customs export duty upon or in respect of all products of the approved enterprise as and when they are entered for export or actually exported from Samoa; but such duty shall not be payable by the Corporation other than on logs when such products are so entered or exported during the said first 5 years, or during any extension of that period granted under subsection (2).

7. Some relief to the Corporation from income tax - (1) Subject as hereinafter appears, the Corporation shall be subject to the provisions of the Income Tax Act 1974 and the Income Tax Rate Act 1974 in respect of all income derived from the approved enterprise, and shall be liable accordingly to pay all income tax payable on that income under those Acts:

PROVIDED THAT, in respect of the tax reduction period, the Corporation shall be liable to pay in Samoa for income tax only one quarter of its taxable income for that period:

PROVIDED ALSO THAT, if the end of the tax reduction period does not coincide with the end of a return date year of the Corporation under the Income Tax Act 1974, the taxable income of the Corporation for its return date year in which the last day of the tax reduction period falls shall be apportioned between the parts of the said return date year which respectively precede and follow the end of the tax reduction period on the basis of the number of days falling within each period, and the taxable income thus attributed to the part which precedes the end of the tax reduction period shall be liable in Samoa to income tax only in accordance with the first provision of the subsection.

(2) At anytime during the tax reduction period, but in the case of buildings forming assets of the approved enterprise only during the 5 years immediately following the completion of the erection thereof, and in the case of plant, machinery and equipment forming assets of the approved enterprise only during the 5 years immediately following the importation thereof into Samoa by the Corporation or the purchase thereof in Samoa by the Corporation, the Corporation may depreciate in its books at such rate or rates up to 20 percent in any return date year or years as it thinks fit all or any of its said buildings, plant, machinery and equipment forming assets of the approved enterprise.

(3) On the Corporation applying in writing to the Director, before the end of the tax reduction period, and furnishing such information as the Director requires, the Head of State, acting on the advice of Cabinet, may grant to the Corporation such extension of the tax reduction period for the purposes of subsection (2) only as the Head of State, acting as aforesaid, thinks fit.

(4) All such depreciation shall be allowed as deductions for income tax purposes in accordance with the entries in the Corporation's books, and at the end of the tax reduction period or any extension thereof granted under subsection (3) the written-down values (if any) of such buildings, plant machinery and equipment shall be treated as commencing values for computing future depreciation allowances for income tax purposes.

8. Some relief to expatriate employees of the Corporation from income tax - Subject as hereinafter appears, each expatriate employee of the Corporation in Samoa shall be subject to the provisions of the Income Tax Act 1974 and the Income Tax Rate Act 1974 in respect of all income derived from the approved enterprise, and shall be liable accordingly to pay all income tax payable on that income under those Ordinances:

PROVIDED THAT if any such expatriate employee, in respect of any return date year of the tax reduction period, has a principal tax obligation arising in some other country, and is not entitled to a deduction from his income tax payable in that other country of all his income tax payable in respect of that year in Samoa pursuant to the foregoing provisions of this section, and if this proviso would not affect that deduction, he shall be liable to pay in Samoa in respect of that year only so much of his income tax as may be deducted from his income tax payable in that other country and shall be exempt from payment of the balance:

PROVIDED ALSO THAT, if any such expatriate employee can prove to the satisfaction of the Commissioner that he would, in respect of his Samoa taxable income for any return date year of the tax reduction period, be assessed at a lower figure for income tax in the other country where his principal tax obligation arises, if the said income were assessed for income tax in that country, than the figure assessed for income tax in Samoa, he shall be liable to pay in Samoa in respect of that year only such lower figure and shall be exempt from payment of the balance.

9. Annual report - There shall be submitted by the Corporation to the Director, with a copy to the Commissioner, within 6 months of the close of each return date year of the approved enterprise during the tax reduction period, a report in writing on the conduct and progress of the approved enterprise during the past return date year together with the annual accounts for that year duly audited by an auditor appointed by the Corporation with the approval of the Director. Such accounts shall include a statement giving full particulars of all capital expended on the approved enterprise, show how this capital has been depreciated in its books during the return date year in question, and generally contain sufficient information to show whether or not the Corporation has complied with all provisions of the said proposed agreement and this Act during that year. The Corporation shall answer all reasonable questions put to it by the Director or the Commissioner relevant to those accounts, and shall allow the Commissioner to inspect and take copies of or extracts from its books and records, and for those purposes to enter its business premises at reasonable times, and any information, copies or extracts obtained by the Commissioner of any such inspection may be disclosed by him to Cabinet.

10. Some relief to the Corporation from some other taxes - Subject to the other provisions of this Act, the Corporation shall be exempt for the whole of the tax reduction period from any tax on land (including roads and improvements to land), or on fuel used by the Corporation, or on the use by the Corporation of any real or personal property, to the extent to which that land, fuel or real or personal property is used for the approved enterprise.

11. Savings - Nothing in this Act shall be held to relieve the Corporation or any of its expatriate employees for any period from liability to pay:

(a) Any fee for any licence which it or he or she may be obliged to obtain and pay for pursuant to the Business Licences Act;

(b) Any stamp duty which may be payable pursuant to the Stamp Duty Ordinance 1932;

(c) Any estate or gift duty which may be payable pursuant to the Samoa Death Duties Order 1922 and the Estate and Gift Duties Act 1955 (NZ);

(d) Any motor vehicle licence or registration fees which may be payable pursuant to the Road Traffic Ordinance 1960;

(e) Any licence, pilotage, port, wharfage, storage, survey or other fees or charges which may be payable pursuant to the Shipping Act;

(f) Any hospital, medical, pharmaceutical, nursing, first aid or other fees of charges which may be payable pursuant to the Health Ordinance 1959;

(g) Any radio communication, postage, telephone, private box, parcels clearance, registration of code address or other fees or charges which may be payable pursuant to the Post Office Act 1972;

(h) Any other fee or charge which may be payable pursuant to any other law for the time being of Samoa as a payment for a service rendered; or

(i) Any tax, duty, assessment or impost levied or imposed by the Government other than those specified in sections 5, 6, 7, 8 and 10 of this Act.

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THE POTLATCH AMENDMENT ACT 1975

1975 No. 22

AN ACT to amend the Potlatch Act 1967 (23 December 1975)

1. Short title - This Act may be cited as the Potlatch Amendment Act 1975, and shall be read together with and be deemed to be part of the Potlatch Act 1967 (hereinafter called the principal Act.)

2. This section substituted a new definition for the definition of the term "date of production" in section 2 of the principal Act.

3. Date of production for purposes of Deeds of Licences - (1) Subject to subsections (2) and (3), in every Deed of Licence that has been entered into by the Corporation pursuant to the Master Agreement made on the 19th day of March 1968 between the Government of Samoa and the Corporation (which agreement is referred to in the principal Act as "the proposed agreement"), every reference to the "date of production" shall be read as a reference to the 1st day of January 1972.

(2) In every Deed of Licence that has been entered into by the Corporation pursuant to the Master Agreement referred to in subsection (1):

(a) For the purposes of the five-yearly review of the rate of payment of royalty for timber and for the duration of the initial price for such timber, the date of production shall be deemed to be the 1st day of January 1971; and

(b) For the purpose of determining the conversion factor in the Deed, the date of the first re-calculation of the conversion factor shall be deemed to be the 1st day of July 1972.

(3) In relation to every Deed of Licence to which this section applies, subsections (1) and (2) shall be deemed to have come into force on the date on which that Deed was made.

(4) The provisions of this section in relation to any Deed of Licence may at any time after the passing of this Act be varied by agreement between the parties to the Deed.

REVISION NOTES 2008

This law has been generally edited as provided for by section 5 of the Revision and Publication of Laws Act 2008. The following general revisions have been made –

(a) References to Samoa have been amended to Samoa in accordance with an amendment to the Constitution of Samoa in 1997.

(b) All references to the male gender have been made gender neutral.

(c) Amendments have been made to conform to modern drafting styles and to use modern language as applied in the laws of Samoa.

(d) Amendments have been made to up-date references to offices, officers and statutes.

(e) Other minor editing has been done in accordance with the lawful powers of the Attorney General.

There were no amendments made to this law since the publication of the Samoa Statutes Reprint 1978-1996.

Note: The office title of "Director has been retained but this should be read as a reference to the Chief Executive Officer of the Ministry of Agriculture.

Revised and consolidated by Graham Bruce Powell
Under the supervision of Teleiai Lalotoa Sinaalamaimaleula Mulitalo (Parliamentary Counsel)

REVISION NOTES 2008 No. 2

This law has been generally edited as provided for by section 5 of the Revision and Publication of Laws Act 2008. The following general revision has been made – the commencement date has been noted and added after the date of assent.

Revised under the supervision of Teleiai Lalotoa Sinaalamaimaleula Mulitalo (Parliamentary Counsel).

REVISION NOTES 2009

There were no amendments made to this law since the publication of the Consolidated and Revised Statutes of Samoa 2007.

This law has been consolidated and revised by the Attorney General under the authority of the Revision and Publication of Laws Act 2008 and is an official version of this Act as at 31 December 2009. It is an offence to publish this Act without approval or to make any unauthorised change to an electronic version of this Act.

Aumua Ming Leung Wai
Attorney General of Samoa

Revised and consolidated by the Legislative Drafting Division under the supervision of Malietau Malietoa and Sarona Rimoni (Parliamentary Counsels).

The Potlatch Act 1967 is administered by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.