Province won’t charge PST on new carbon tax

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This article was published 05/03/2019 (2576 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Manitoba government says it will not charge the provincial sales tax on the national carbon tax when the latter takes effect April 1.

Finance Minister Scott Fielding said Tuesday the exemption will affect natural gas bills, which have a 1.6 per cent PST rate (as opposed to the usual eight per cent PST). Manitoba currently doesn’t charge PST on gasoline, diesel or propane, which will also be subject to the carbon tax.

“Really, what we are trying to do as a government is keep more money on the kitchen table, as opposed to taking it off,” Fielding said at a pre-budget news conference.

“We’re not going to put a tax on a tax. We think that’s bad public policy. We don’t agree with it.”

In a news release, the Tory government said the measure will save Manitoba families and businesses $3.6 million this year.

Ottawa has made clear its intention to charge the Goods and Services Tax on top of the carbon tax, the province said. When combined with the impact on the federal carbon tax on home heating, this decision will cost the average Manitoba household $92 more in 2019, topping out at about $230 annually by 2022, it said.

NDP Leader Wab Kinew said the announced exemption will save the average Manitoba family about $1.25 per year.

“Meanwhile, your Hydro bill’s gone up by $100. So to me, this is a bit of a distraction, and they’re just trying to distract from the fact that under their watch, hydro has gotten more and more expensive in Manitoba,” he said.

Kinew suggested the province remove the PST from electricity bills “if they wanted to be the heroes for the environment.”

jessica.botelho@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @_jessbu