Sask. stopped collecting carbon tax on heating bills, but may still pay Ottawa anyway

No final decision on carbon tax, Sask. says WATCH: As Hallee Mandryk explains, Saskatchewan has yet to make the final decision on whether to remit the carbon tax.

The Government of Saskatchewan will decide in the coming weeks whether or not to remit the carbon tax collected on natural gas for the month of January.

“Carbon tax remittances for usage that occurs in the month of January are not required to be paid until the end of February, and no final decisions have been made on whether or not to remit those charges,” a statement from the Government of Saskatchewan said.

Carbon tax collected for natural gas usage from the month of December will be paid to the federal government at the end of January in accordance with federal legislation, the statement said.

However, the province is first looking for clarity before making any decisions on whether or not to pay for January’s usage.

The Government of Saskatchewan applied to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) to become the registered distributor of natural gas in Saskatchewan in place of SaskEnergy, to make sure the responsibility for any decisions to remain with the elected government.

“To date, the federal government has not responded to our applications,” the statement read.

In October of 2023, the province announced that it would stop collecting carbon tax on natural gas, beginning on Jan. 1, 2024.

“Saskatchewan has been clear that we oppose the carbon tax on everything for everyone, and we continue to advocate for exactly that to the federal government,” the statement read.

“Our decision to stop collecting the carbon tax on home heating was fundamentally about providing the same fairness to Saskatchewan families that were left out in the cold by the federal government's decision to stop collecting the carbon tax on heating oil for Atlantic Canadian families.”

If the province chooses to remit funds, they said that will come from the General Revenue Fund or existing SaskEnergy funds.

Should SaskEnergy not remit those funds, it would be breaking federal law, something Dustin Duncan, minister responsible for SaskEnergy, previously said he would be prepared for.