Canadian Taxpayer Federation happy to see provincial fuel tax suspended

The Canadian Taxpayer Federation is applauding Premier Danielle Smith’s government for fully suspending the provincial fuel tax to start the new year.

Alberta Director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, Kris Sims said the provincial fuel tax suspension kicked in on Jan. 1, and will last for at least the next six months.

She said the best way to explain it was by going back to last year changes, as the fuel tax changed throughout 2022.

“Last Spring when Jason Kenney was still premier, they completely suspended the fuel tax which is 13 cents per litre of both gasoline and diesel in Alberta. At that time, they announced that the fuel tax would go up and down along with the price of oil,” said Sims.

She said that meant that as the price of oil rose, they would make sure there was no tax, but if the price of oil dropped they would impose a tax again.

“In the fall, the price of oil dropped a little bit, so the provincial government reimposed 4.5 cents per litre of fuel tax,” said Sims.

She said the CTF was calling for a full suspension, the 13 cents per litre gone until people were doing much better financially, because right now people are struggling to fill gas tanks and pay for groceries due to inflation.

“They initially didn’t listen and it sounded like as soon as the price of oil drops a little bit more they were going to jack it back up, all the way to 13 cents. But after Daniel Smith won the leadership vote and became premier for her party and for the province, she looked at it and said ‘you know what, you’re right, people can’t afford stuff, inflation is crazy and we are getting punished with a carbon tax’ so she directed her government to again fully suspend the fuel tax for at least the next six months,” said Sims.

She said this time the suspension is not tied to the price of fuel.

“In Dec. 31, 2022 there was 4.5 cents per litre of tax on gasoline and diesel, as of Jan. 1, 2023 that is now gone and the policy of the government is for at least the next six months to have it stay gone, the 13 cents per litre is not going to pop back up in the next six months at least,” said Sims.

She explained that even though some pumps are displaying the same prices as last month, consumers are paying for the product itself, which is tied to the price of fuel but not the taxes.

“It’s not the government getting that money, it’s the supplier, or the store, or the refiner, depending on where along the line cost is incurred, but it’s not being incurred on the tax side of things,” said Sims.

She also mentioned that even though prices might seem high still, Alberta has the lowest fuel taxes in all of Canada.

“The only taxes that exist as of right now on the pumps are federal,” said Sims.

And unfortunately those federal taxes are about to get even higher.

“Coming April 1, the federal carbon tax goes up to 13 cents per litre of gasoline. And in the summer, the federal government is imposing a second carbon tax in the form of fuel regulation and it’s going to cost anywhere between eight and 11 cents for gas,” said Sims.

She said that if the provincial fuel tax in Alberta was not suspended, in our gas taxes would have been 43 cents per litre, but the fuel tax relief is for at least six months and therefore Albertans would not have to worry about that for a few extra months.

The CFT prepared a report where the fuel prices and respective taxes are compared across the country, showing Alberta being the cheapest in the country.

The report can be accessed at  http://www.taxpayer.com/media/Gas-Tax-Honesty-Report-2022.pdf

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