The NWT government says residents will receive their second “cost of living offset payment” related to the territory’s carbon tax on Thursday, April 30.
If you’re an adult, you’ll get $52. If you’re a child under the age of 18, you get $60. The payment is tax-free and issued either by cheque or direct deposit via the Canada Revenue Agency.
The first payment went out in October last year.
From July this year, the payments will be quarterly for some people (but not all) and the annual sum you receive will also go up – as will the carbon tax itself. The pattern will repeat itself over the next few years: both the tax and the offset will increase annually.
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Starting in July 2020, adults will get $156 annually and children $180 each.
Families will get quarterly payments but single individuals will be paid once a year in a July lump sum “because their quarterly payments would be less than $50,” the NWT government said in a statement.
The payments are part of a system designed to minimize the impact of the NWT’s carbon tax on its residents.
Even the minister who implemented the tax, Robert C McLeod, famously said he hoped the territory repealed it the moment the opportunity arose. The federal government had mandated that provinces and territories put some form of tax in place – McLeod felt an NWT-specific version was better than the federal backstop.
The NWT government has, however, claimed many families will be better off with the carbon tax than they were before, thanks in part to the offset payments.
If you haven’t received your payment by May 18, call the Canada Revenue Agency on 1-866-426-1527.
