Gas tax returns at lower rate

As one province pauses the gas tax to provide savings at the pumps, another is bringing it back.

The Manitoba government says that starting Monday, motorists won’t have to pay 14 cents per litre in fuel tax for the next six months.

The province has said it introduced the measure to help motorists with inflation.

Meanwhile, the Alberta government is reintroducing the gas tax after pausing it nearly two years ago.

Starting on Jan. 1, motorists in Alberta can expect to pay a tax of nine cents per litre at the pumps.

At least one Lethbridge station had raised its price for regular unleaded to 128.2 cents a litre on Monday morning. On Sunday, city motorists could get regular unleaded for prices ranging from 106.9 cents a litre at Costco to 115.9 cents at several stations.

Alberta said the rate of nine cents is cheaper than the 13 cents motorists had paid before the pause.

Alberta Finance Minister Nate Horner said the tax rate is based on the average price of oil.

Should the price of West Texas Intermediate average US$80 per barrel, Albertans can expect to save some or all of the fuel tax, he said.

“Alberta’s fuel tax is a predictable source of provincial revenue, helping to offset the volatility of other revenue sources,” Horner said in a December news release.

He said the province plans to provide an update on the fuel tax in the spring.

In Ontario, the provincial government is to extend a break on the gas tax to June, so motorists are to continue to pay nine cents per litre.

Opposition parties in British Columbia and Saskatchewan have asked for a break on gas taxes, but those provinces have refused to do so.