Alberta Carbon Levy - Mobile Service Rigs Rebate Available Retroactively to 2017

The Alberta Tax and Revenue Administration recently released an information fact sheet on rebate claims for mobile service rigs. This fact sheet was in response to amendments to the province’s Climate Leadership Act amendments announced in November 2018. 

The rebate claim is available retroactively from January 1, 2017 onward. Normally, carbon levy rebate in Alberta must be claimed on a calendar quarter basis. However, two annual rebates can be claimed for 2017 and 2018 respectively. The rebate will then revert back to quarterly claims for 2019 onward.

The rebate is for the carbon levy paid on clear (unmarked) gasoline or diesel used in a licensed service rig in a production process before 2023. 

For this rebate, a service rig is defined as a licensed mobile service vehicle composed of a derrick and draw-works capable of pulling and running jointed tubulars and conventional sucker rods. The definition includes portable “doghouse” trailers, but excludes attendant equipment and support vehicles.

Attendant equipment includes equipment, pump, tank, utility and winch trucks, pickers, tank units, mobile pumps and other similar equipment. Support vehicles are light vehicles used by field staff actively involved in the production process.

While attendant equipment and support vehicles form part of the “service rig package” as a whole, they are specifically excluded from the definition of service rig such at any clear gasoline or diesel used in attendant equipment and support vehicles is not eligible for the rebate. 

If you are using unlicensed equipment (other than portable doghouse trailers) in a production process before 2023, you must use marked or dyed fuel in such equipment to get access to the fuel exempt of the carbon levy. A valid carbon levy exemption certificate and a valid fuel tax exemption certificate must be provided to the exempt-sale vendor at the time the marked fuel is purchased. 

To make a rebate claim, you must apply through the province’s Tax and Revenue Administration Client Self-Service (TRACS) secure online system.

For more information on this rebate, contact Danny Crawford, CPA, CA, CMA, at (780) 969-1426 or [email protected]