Terms Used In Arizona Laws > Title 42 > Chapter 5 > Article 5 - Severance Tax

• Business: includes all activities or acts, personal or corporate, that are engaged in or caused to be engaged in with the object of gain, benefit or advantage, either directly or indirectly, but does not include either:

  (a) Casual activities or sales. See Arizona Laws 42-5001

• Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
• Department: means the department of revenue. See Arizona Laws 42-1001
• Distribution base: means the portion of the revenues derived from the tax levied by this article and articles 5 and 8 of this chapter designated for distribution to counties, municipalities and other purposes according to section 42-5029, subsection D. See Arizona Laws 42-5001
• Engaging: when used with reference to engaging or continuing in business, includes the exercise of corporate or franchise powers. See Arizona Laws 42-5001
• Fair market value: The price at which an asset would change hands in a transaction between a willing, informed buyer and a willing, informed seller.
• Gross income: means the gross receipts of a taxpayer derived from trade, business, commerce or sales and the value proceeding or accruing from the sale of tangible personal property or service, or both, and without any deduction on account of losses. See Arizona Laws 42-5001
• Gross value of production: means the sum of the value of production determined for each metalliferous mineral mined by the severer. See Arizona Laws 42-5201
• including: means not limited to and is not a term of exclusion. See Arizona Laws 1-215
• Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). ^{Source: OCC}
• Metallic product: means any metalliferous mineral or metalliferous mineral product. See Arizona Laws 42-5201
• Metalliferous mineral: means copper, gold, silver, molybdenum or other metal or any ore or substance containing such metals including turquoise that is severed within this state. See Arizona Laws 42-5201
• Metalliferous mineral product: means the material resulting from the processing of a metalliferous mineral including any concentrate of an ore, any precipitate of a metalliferous mineral or any metal bullion. See Arizona Laws 42-5201
• Mining: means the activity of extracting from the earth substances that become metalliferous minerals and:

  (a) In the case of ore that is customarily milled, concentrated, agitation leached, or vat leached, mining includes all activity from the breaking of ground to the delivery of ore to the primary crusher, including blasting, loading, hauling, including hauling of waste, and dumping. See Arizona Laws 42-5201

• Mining costs: means production costs incurred in mining. See Arizona Laws 42-5201
• Person: means a natural person, individual, proprietor, proprietorship, company, corporation, organization, association, joint venture, partner, partnership, trust, estate or limited liability company, the federal or state government, a political subdivision of a state or any other legal entity or combination of entities that owns, controls or has possession of real or personal property. See Arizona Laws 42-11001
• Price: means the per unit consideration a severer receives from the sale during the reporting period of a metallic product whether sold within or without this state. See Arizona Laws 42-5201
• Processing: means any non-mining activity that transforms metalliferous minerals into metalliferous mineral products including precipitating, crushing, concentrating, smelting and refining. See Arizona Laws 42-5201
• Processing costs: means production costs other than mining costs. See Arizona Laws 42-5201
• Production costs: means the costs incurred by the severer in mining and processing until the point of sale including but not limited to energy, fuel, labor, supplies, depreciation, transportation and other expenses reasonably allocable to mining or processing including but not limited to labor benefits, property taxes, lease payments for equipment used in mining or processing and support services such as maintenance, security and administration if such services are site specific. See Arizona Laws 42-5201
• Property: includes both real and personal property. See Arizona Laws 1-215
• Recoverable units: means metalliferous mineral units based on processing or contractual recoveries during the period of production. See Arizona Laws 42-5201
• Sale: means any transfer of title or possession, or both, exchange, barter, lease or rental, conditional or otherwise, in any manner or by any means whatever, including consignment transactions and auctions and transactions facilitated by a marketplace facilitator on behalf of a marketplace seller, of tangible personal property or other activities taxable under this chapter, for a consideration, and includes:

  (a) Any transaction by which the possession of property is transferred but the seller retains the title as security for the payment of the price. See Arizona Laws 42-5001

• Severer: means a person engaging in the business of mining. See Arizona Laws 42-5201
• Value of production: means the price multiplied by the recoverable units of a metallic product mined by the severer. See Arizona Laws 42-5201