Trudeau's tax agency to audit Saskatchewan for unpaid carbon taxes: Premier Scott Moe

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) wants to punish Saskatchewan with an audit for not sending its carbon tax payments from home heating to Ottawa, Premier Scott Moe said Monday.

Moe said Canada’s tax agency will examine Saskatchewan’s records to see how much owes in carbon levies that it hadn't been paying to the federal government, according to CTV News. 

"They will ask if they can look at the submissions we've made and for us to submit money they estimate may be owed," he told reporters.

"We don't believe there's any dollars that are owed."

Moe’s government has declared that it will no longer charge the federal carbon tax on natural gas – even though this contravenes the law. 

Moe said the exemption was only fair given that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau bowed to political pressure in the Maritimes and agreed to put a carbon tax “pause” on home heating oil used in a region that still votes Liberal in significant numbers. 

The Canada Revenue Agency has not confirmed Moe’s report. 

Trudeau issued a veiled threat to Moe last week saying the CRA is "very, very good" at extracting taxes owed and he offered the Saskatchewan premier "good luck" in negotiating with the federal tax agents. 

Moe said any carbon tax exemption on one fuel should be equally applied. 

"We think the federal government could actually take another step and make this whole policy decision more fair to more Canadian families," he said.

For his part, Moe said the CRA could encounter difficulties collecting any back taxes from Saskatchewan and new federal legislation might be required to further empower the agency.

Trudeau and other key Liberal government cabinet ministers continue to claim that eight out of ten Canadians are receiving more monkey back in rebates than they are forced to pay in carbon taxes. 

However, that claim has not been borne out by the facts.

“The Parliamentary Budget Officer [PBO] is clear: the carbon tax costs families hundreds of dollars more than the rebates they get back,” said Franco Terrazzano, the federal director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. “The PBO shows politicians are using magic math to mislead Canadians.”