XE8: Gasoline tax refund for persons with permanent impairment

If you are an individual with permanent impairment and can not safely use public transportation, you may be eligible to apply for a refund of a portion of the federal excise tax on the gasoline you buy.

The gasoline excise tax refund program has been implemented by the federal government to reduce the gasoline tax burden on three categories of individuals and institutions:

Registered Canadian amateur athletic association

Registered charities

Individuals with a permanent mobility impairment. In this blog we will only focus on Individuals with a permanent mobility impairment.

To be eligible, the individual must fall into one of the two categories:

Have been approved for Disability Tax Credit (DTC)

Mobility impairment has been certified by a medical practitioner.

Eligible individuals may be able to claim a refund for a portion of the fuel tax paid at the rate of $0.015 per litre OR $0.0015 per kilometre whichever method more advantageous to the applicant. The choice of the method used is with the claimant. If the claimant owns a gas-guzzler vehicle, it will be more beneficial to use the litre rate method. However, if you own a small three-cylinder fuel efficient automobile, the kilometer rate method will result in a higher refund. The kilometre rate method is also intended for amateur athletic associations and charities who require their employees to use their personal vehicles for work and receive a kilometre-based reimbursement/allowance from the organisation.

The claim can cover more than one vehicle. The total fuel purchased for both vehicles should be combined into one claim.

The following are disallowed under the program:

Gasoline purchased for resale

Gasoline purchased in foreign countries

Diesel fuel

Heating fuel

Propane

Electric vehicles

There are limitations as to when and how often you can submit a claim. If the amount of the refund is less than $200, the claim can be submitted for each six-month period ending June 30 or December 31. The claim must be filed no later than one month after the end of the six-month period. If the amount of the refund is $200 or more, the claim can be submitted at any time during the year but should be limited to a maximum of one claim per month.

Claimants are required to maintain documents such as gas receipts, invoices, vouchers and confirmation-of-use statements for a period of six-years from the date of purchase. There is no need to submit the supporting documentation with the application but they should be kept with the claimant in the event the CRA requests them. The documents must be legible and contain adequate information for the CRA to verify the claim. No estimates for missing supporting documentation will be accepted.

Claim applications should be submitted no later than two years after the gasoline was purchased.

For further information please contact Softron at 1-877-SOFTRON or visit www.softrontax.com