15.     Deductions from income derived from mining operations

 

There shall be allowed to be deducted from the income derived by the taxpayer from mining operations –

 

(a)     an amount to be ascertained under the provisions of section 36, in lieu of the allowances in sections 11(e), (f), (gA), (gC), (o), 12B, 12BA, 12D, 12DA, 12F and 13quin;

[Paragraph (a) substituted by section 20 of Act 55 of 1966, by section 18 of Act 129 of 1991, by section 24 of Act 31 of 2005, by section 29 of Act 35 of 2007 and by section 22(1) of Act 17 of 2023 effective on 1 March, 2023 and applicable in respect of assets brought into use on or after that date]

 

(b)     any expenditure incurred by the taxpayer during the year of assessment on prospecting operations (including surveys, boreholes, trenches, pits and other prospecting work preliminary to the establishment of a mine) in respect of any area within the Republic together with any other expenditure which is incidental to such operations:

 

Provided that –

 

(i)      except in the case of any person who derives income from mining for diamonds in the Republic, the Commissioner may determine that any expenditure referred to in this paragraph shall be deducted in a series of annual instalments, so that only a portion of such expenditure is deducted in the year of assessment in which it is incurred, and the residue in such subsequent years of assessment and in such proportions as the Commissioner may determine, until the expenditure is extinguished;

 

(ii)     in the case of any company which derives income from different classes of mining operations, the deduction under this paragraph shall be made from the income derived from such class or classes of mining operations and in such proportions as the Commissioner may determine;

 

(iii)    any expenditure which has been allowed to be deducted from the income of any person in terms of this paragraph shall not be included in such person’s capital expenditure as defined in subsection (11) of section 36.