Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, With the Address of the President to Congress December 5, 1916

File No. 812.512/1175

Special Representative Rodgers to the Secretary of State

[Extract]

No. 25

Mexico City, April 20, 1916.

Sir: I have the honor to forward herewith, in duplicate, a translation of the proposed mining tax law which has been under preparation by the Secretary of the Treasury of the Republic of Mexico. The salient points of this law I transmitted to the Department by telegraph on the 19th.

I have [etc.]

James L. Rodgers

[Inclosure—Translation]

[Untitled]

Ministry of Finance and Public Credit,
Department of Taxes.

The First Chief of the Constitutionalist Army, in charge of the Executive of the Union, has addressed to me the following decree:

Venustiano Carranza, First Chief of the Constitutionalist Army, in charge of the Executive of the Union and Chief of the Revolution, in use of the extraordinary faculties of which I am vested, has seen fit to decree as follows:

Article 1. Export ores produced in the Republic or those coming from foreign countries, are subject to the Interior Stamp Tax without any other exceptions than those expressly determined by the law. Said tax will be caused in the future as follows:

a. Ores which should be exported in the form of mineral earth, cyanides or sulphides, smelting residues, or in any other form in which same may be combined or mixed with substances which are not metals proper, as follows: Gold and silver at the rate of 10 per cent ad valorem. Other metals at the rate of 5 per cent ad valorem. The Ministry of Finance, in accordance with the rates quoted in the New York market, will publish in due time the monthly rates for the payment of this tax.

b. On ores treated in this country to such a point of refination that they may not be mixed with any other substance but metallic ones, the taxes shall be reduced 20 per cent as fixed in item “a”.

Article 2. The following are exempt from the Interior Stamp Tax:

a. Refined gold which may be introduced to the mints for the purpose of coinage and that which may be presented at the governmental offices in order to exchange it for silver coin at the rate of 75 grams of gold for one silver peso.

b. National and foreign gold and silver coins.

c. Silver which may be exported in the form of mineral rock, mineral earth, or silver dust, either in the natural state or concentrated, sulphides, cyanides, smelter residues, provided that the quantity of silver contained in any of said products does not exceed 250 grams per ton.

d. Gold and silver which having been imported to this Republic in any of the forms mentioned in item “c” or partially treated and which may be exported, within four months after its importation, in the form of bars, and after having undergone metallurgical treatment in Mexican establishments.

e. Gold and silver used in the national industry.

f. Samples of ore in their natural state, which may be exported under the conditions fixed by existing regulations.

g. Copper ores; when the copper contents are less than 3 per cent; lead ores; when the lead contents are less than 10 per cent; and zinc ores; when the zinc contents are less than 15 per cent.

Article 3. Assay charges will only be assessed when the assay operation is performed at the request of interested parties, by prescription of the law or by governmental disposition; the smelting charge will be made when the bars do not show sufficient homogeneity and when such operation may be required for the assay or valuation; and a charge of refining will be made when so requested by the interested parties. All of the above operations will be made in such assay offices as the Government may have for the purpose.

The charge for each one of the operations mentioned in the foregoing, shall be fixed by means of a tariff, based on the actual cost of operations, which tariff will be published by the Department of Finance.

Article 4. Metallurgical establishments, which, by virtue of special concessions which the Government may have granted them and which may be in force on the date of this law and may be thereby enjoying any franchises in the question of local or federal taxes, may take advantage of the terms of the present law, provided that such establishments renounce any franchises, without any reservation whatsoever, before the Department of Finance. In the meanwhile such establishments shall not enjoy the benefits of the present law, but shall be subject to the terms of their respective concessions, and to the law and rulings of March 25, 1897, and to all other dispositions which may now be in force, including the toll for coinage.

Article 5. When the concessions granted to metallurgical establishments shall have expired, such concessions shall not be renewed or extended, in so far as the question of taxation is concerned and the said metallurgical establishments shall be subject to the regular taxes which may be then in force.

Article 6. The tax represented by special stamps which, according to the present mining law, should be affixed on mining titles, shall be ten dollars national gold, for each “pertenencia” or claim which such titles may cover, regardless of the ores which may be found on the ground.

Article 7. The annual mining tax shall be as follows:

gold and silver mines

A. On claims of from 1 to 10 “pertenencias,” at the rate of $6.00 per year per “pertenencia” or $2.00 for each “tercio.”

B. From 11 to 50 “pertenencias” $12.00 per year or $4.00 per “tercio.”

C. From 51 to 100 pertenencias $18.00 per year or $6.00 per “tercio.”

D. From 101 “pertenencias” or more, $24.00 per year or $8.00 per “tercio.”

mines other than gold or silver

A. From 1 to 50 “pertenencias” $6.00 per year per “pertenencia” or $2.00 per “tercio.”

B. From 51 to 200 “pertenencias” $12.00 per year or $4.00 per “tercio.”

C. From 201 to 500 “pertenencias” $18.00 per year or $6.00 per “tercio.”

D. From 501 or more $24.00 per year or $8.00 per “tercio.”

Article 8. The scale or rates, as per above, shall be only applicable when the “pertenencias” may belong to the same owner and are located in the same mining district and whether they are contiguous or not.

Article 9. Applications for concession of mining ground, shall have no legal effect and shall not be proceeded with unless they are sent in with the certificates issued by the local stamp office showing that the necessary deposit has been made to cover the stamps on the titles, according to the number of claims contained in the applications. Such certificates of deposit shall be returned to the interested parties as soon as the stamps have been affixed and cancelled upon the titles patents or if the application for denouncement has been finally rejected.

Article 10. In lieu of the l½ per cent authorized by Art. 12 of the law of March 25, 1905, 2 per cent is now hereby authorized in accordance with Art. 4 of the Decree of July 6, 1867, which fixed said 2 per cent as the maximum with which the states or the federation in its case, may tax the mines.

Article 11. Zinc bars, filings, scrap zinc or zinc shavings, as per fraction 221 of the customs house tariff, sulphur as per fraction 536, hyposulphate of sodium as per fraction 559, and zinc sheets as per fraction 225, provided the sheets are not over 1 x 2.25 ms. and 1 millimeter in thickness and perforated every 20 centimeters in any direction, shall be imported free of duty.

Article 12. All amounts which should have to be paid into the Treasury on account of the present law, shall be paid in National gold coin.

transitories

Article 1. This decree shall become effective from the date of its promulgation, but the rates fixed by Art. 7 and 8 shall be applicable from the 1st of July, 1916.

Article 2. From the date of the promulgation of this law, the law of March 25, 1905, and decree of March 1, 1915, shall be definitely derogated.

Article 3. Owners of mining property on which mining taxes may now be pending shall make payments as follows:

A. Taxes pending prior to March 1, 1915, shall be paid for in accordance with the rates which were in effect before that date, plus a fine of 200 per cent.

B. Taxes pending, corresponding to the “tercio” from March to June, 1915, shall be paid for at the rate of $6.00 per “pertenencia,” for each of the first 25 and at the rate of $3.00 pesos for each exceeding “pertenencia,” plus a fine of 150 per cent.

C. Payments due, corresponding to the “tercio” from July to October, 1915, shall be paid for at the rate of $6.00 per “pestenencia,” whatsoever the number of pertenencias may be, plus a fine of 100 per cent.

D. Payments due, corresponding to the “tercio” from November 1, 1915, to the last day of February, 1916, shall be paid for at the rate of $8.00, plus a fine of 50 per cent.

E. Payments due, corresponding to the “tercio” from March to July, 1916, shall be paid during the present month, in accordance with the rates fixed by the Decree of March 1, 1915, without any fine.

Article 4. A term, which shall expire on the 30th of June, 1916, to pay all the taxes which may now be in arrears up to the 29th of February, 1916, is hereby granted. Nonpayment shall cause the forfeiture of the titles.

Article 5. For once only, and in order to pay such taxes as are in arrears up to the 29th of February, 1916, an option is hereby given tax payers to pay either in national coin or its equivalent in paper money, at the rate of exchange fixed by the monetary commission.

Article 6. Tax payers who after March 1, 1915, may have paid any quantity which may exceed that fixed by the transitorial articles of this decree, shall have a right to a refund, the amount of which shall be credited to them on account of future payments.

Therefore, I order that this decree be printed, properly circulated and duly complied with.

constitution and reforms

Issued in the city of Mexico on the 16th of April, 1916.

Venustiano Carranza