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Income Taxes
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2021
Income Taxes  
Income Taxes

7. Income Taxes

The Company recorded an income tax expense of $2.4 million and $6.7 million for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020, the Company recorded an income tax expense of $2.9 million and a benefit of $0.4 million, respectively. In accordance with applicable accounting rules, the interim provision for taxes is calculated using the estimated consolidated annual effective tax rate. The consolidated effective tax rate is a function of the combined effective tax rates for the jurisdictions in which the Company operates. Variations in the relative proportions of jurisdictional income could result in fluctuations to the Company’s consolidated effective tax rate. At the federal level, the Company’s income in the U.S. is taxed at 21% and a 5% withholding tax applies to dividends received from Mexico. The Mexico income is taxed at 37.5% (30% income tax and 7.5% mining tax) and Canada income is taxed at 26.5%, which results in a consolidated effective tax rate above statutory U.S. Federal rates. The U.S. jurisdiction does not currently generate taxable income.

Mexico Mining Taxation

Mining entities in Mexico are subject to two mining duties, in addition to the 30% Mexico corporate income tax. The first is a “special” mining duty of 7.5% of taxable income as defined under Mexican tax law (also referred to as “mining royalty tax”) on extraction activities performed by concession holders. The mining royalty tax is generally applicable to earnings before income tax, depreciation, depletion, amortization, and interest, and it is considered an income tax for purposes of financial reporting. The second is a 0.5% mining duty over sales of gold and silver, but this duty is not considered an income tax for financial reporting purposes and reported as production cost. Both duties are tax deductible for Mexico income tax purposes. In addition, in Q1 2021, the Mexican Tax Authorities introduced new tax regulation wherein the treatment of exploration expenses for mining royalty taxes were aligned with the income tax treatment. Exploration expenses that were previously 100% deductible in the year incurred are now being deducted at a rate of 10% per year for 10 years.

The Company periodically transfers funds from its Mexican wholly-owned subsidiary to the U.S. in the form of dividends, which are subject to a 10% Mexico withholding tax, unless otherwise provided per a tax treaty. The current U.S.-Mexico tax treaty limits the dividend withholding tax between these countries to 5%, as long as certain requirements are met. Based on the understanding that it meets these requirements, the Company pays a 5% withholding tax on dividends received from Mexico in 2021. The impact of the planned annual dividends for 2021 is reflected in the estimated annual effective tax rate.

As of September 30, 2021, the Company believes that it has no liability for uncertain tax positions.

The U.S. Treasury Department issued final regulations in July 2020 concerning global intangible low-taxed income, commonly referred to as GILTI tax, which was introduced by the Tax Act of 2017. The GILTI provisions impose a tax on foreign income in excess of a deemed return on tangible assets of foreign corporations. The final tax regulations allow income to be excluded from GILTI tax that is subject to an effective tax rate higher than 90% of the U.S. tax rate (18.9%). The Company completed its assessment, and due to the high tax exception, no GILTI tax was incurred for the nine months ended September 30, 2021.