Resource Indemnity and Groundwater Assessment Tax (RIGWAT)
All businesses engaged in mining or extracting mineral resources within this state are subject to an annual tax on the percentage of the gross value of the product, pursuant to 15-38-104.
The tax rates are as follows: Talc, 4.0%; coal, 0.4%; vermiculite, 2.0%, quicklime, 10%, industrial garnet, 1%; all others, 0.5%. There is a minimum annual tax of $25. This tax is in addition to all other applicable license or severance taxes.
Filing Requirements
All extractors and producers of minerals must file an annual statement showing the gross yield of product for each mineral mined.
Metal producers are required to file on or before March 31. All other producers are required to file on or before the 60th day following the end of the calendar year. The tax due must be paid at the time of filing the statement of gross yield.
Exemptions
- Metal production subject to the metal mines license tax is exempt from RIGWAT, pursuant to 15-38-113.
- Oil and gas royalties received by an Indian tribe, by the U.S. government as trustee for individual Indians, by the U.S. government, by the state of Montana, or by a county or municipality are exempt from RIGWAT.
- Oil and natural gas production tax rates include RIGWAT, and therefore a separate RIGWAT filing form is not required.
Distribution of RIGWAT
The resource indemnity trust fund was created to indemnify the citizens of Montana for the loss of long-term value resulting from the depletion of natural resource bases, and for environmental damage caused by mineral development. The fund is managed by the state Board of Investments.
Until the balance in the resource indemnity trust reach $100 million, half of collection are deposited in the trust, $300,000 is deposited in the groundwater assessment account, and the remainder is split evenly between the orphan share account and the reclamation and development grants account. After the balance reaches $100 million, $366,000 is to be deposited in the groundwater assessment account and the remainder is to be split evenly between the orphan share account and the reclamation and development grants account, pursuant to 15-38-106.
