Leslie Cholowsky
Editor
The first day of 2024 marked the end of the total provincial gas tax suspension for consumers.
When the tax suspension was first announced, it was tied to the average price of West Texas Intermediate
(WTI) oil, and also came with a proviso that limited any future reinstatement to nine cents, from the previous 13 cents per litre. So while gas will now cost an extra nine cents per litre, Albertans will continue to save four cents a litre, says Minister of Finance Nate Horner.
After the first quarter, the province will adjust the tax again, depending on WTI pricing. When WTI prices average $80 per barrel or higher, reduced tax rates will apply. Currently the WTI sits at $72.48.
When then-Premier Jason Kenney announced the tax relief, he said Kenney said the reduction would
work on a sliding scale, where if prices slide to $90 or above per barrel, there will be no fuel tax, but if it
drops below $80 per barrel, the full tax will again apply.
When the Province announced that the pause on fuel taxes would be extended to the end of 2023, it
also said that would happen regardless of what oil prices did, so while the price of WTI has dropped, Albertans are only now seeing the effect of that drop at the fuel pumps. The provincial fuel tax is applied
on gasoline, and diesel, including marked gasoline and diesel.
The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) has loudly denounced the reintroduction of the tax, pointing at Alberta’s $5.5 billon budget surplus, along with a federal carbon tax hike planned for this April. “It’s mindboggling the Alberta government would be hiking up its fuel tax back up in the New Year,” said Kris Sims, Alberta Director for the CTF. “The provincial government should be doing all it can to shield Albertans from inflation and tax hikes, but instead it’s jacking our taxes back up at the pumps.”