Carbon tax repeal

Overview

Bill 1: the Carbon Tax Repeal Act has eliminated Alberta's provincial carbon tax and repealed the Climate Leadership Act to help remove the financial burden on families and job creators.

Key changes

The Carbon Tax Repeal Act:

• repealed the Climate Leadership Act on May 30, 2019 and ended the Alberta Climate Leadership Adjustment Rebate
• gave gas stations and other fuel re-sellers that held fuel at the time of repeal 30 days to apply for a refund of the carbon tax paid when they purchased that fuel
• shortened the time period to apply for outstanding refunds or rebates from 4 years to 2 years
  • fuel users had until the end of 2019 to apply for rebates in respect of fuel used for an exempt purpose in 2017
  • re-sellers that sold tax-exempt fuel in 2019 have until the end of 2021 to apply for a refund on the tax they paid when they purchased the fuel
• removed the spending restrictions on existing carbon tax revenue and made sure the carbon tax was not charged on sales after it’s repealed

The Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction (TIER) regulation applies to large industrial emitters as of January 1, 2020.

Next steps

In December 2019, Alberta issued a Court challenge against the federal carbon tax, which came into effect on January 1, 2020, arguing that each province has the right to set its own policies to fight climate change. An Alberta Court of Appeal decision is expected in the spring of 2020.

News

• Federal carbon tax: Minister Schweitzer statement (Dec. 16, 2019)
• Carbon tax repeal helps Albertans get back to work (May 22, 2019)