Overview

Effective July 1 until June 30, 2024, the gasoline tax rate on unleaded gasoline will decrease from 14.7 cents per litre to 9.0 cents per litre and the fuel tax rate on clear diesel (including blended), clear kerosene and biodiesel will decrease from 14.3 cents per litre to 9.0 cents per litre. 

The Ministry of Finance has developed a process to credit retailers who have inventories of gasoline and/or fuel for which tax was pre-paid at the higher tax rates.

Retailers who hold inventory purchased at the higher rate are required to record inventory amounts held at 12:01 a.m., on July 1, 2022, and submit this information to their supplier.

Suppliers will issue credits to accounts based on inventory reported.

Preparing for the tax rate change

Ensure that the lower tax rate will be in effect in your systems from the beginning of July 1, 2022, until the end of June 30, 2024. 

Prepare to complete an inventory report of all eligible products you have on hand at 12:01 a.m. on July 1, 2022, and be ready to submit this information to your supplier.

Your supplier should let you know before the tax rate change if they:

Completing your inventory report

At 12:01 a.m. on July 1, 2022, record inventory amounts of all eligible product you have on hand. If your retail location is closed at that time, you could record inventory amounts right after the station closes or immediately before it opens next.

Complete and submit the inventory report to your supplier as soon as possible.

Use the ministry’s Fuel and Gasoline Products Inventory Report unless your supplier provided you their own inventory report.

Multiple locations

You can consolidate your inventory from multiple locations on one inventory report, if all gasoline and/or fuel products are purchased from the same supplier.

Multiple suppliers

If you have inventory from multiple suppliers, you should request a credit from each supplier based on the remaining volume of eligible product purchased from those suppliers.

If you cannot determine what product is from which supplier, then you may request a credit based upon the percentage of eligible products purchased from each supplier in the past 30 days.

Consignment

You should not include product provided to you by a supplier on a consignment basis on your inventory report. Only include inventory on which you have pre-paid the tax.

Your supplier who owns the consignment product may ask you to communicate to them the amount of their inventory at your location, so they can include that amount on their own inventory report.

Getting your credit

After you submit your inventory report to your supplier, they may require some time to process your credit request. Once they do so, they will apply a credit to your account for you to use towards your next purchase of gasoline or fuel products.

You may ask for a payment instead of a credit if you recently switched suppliers.

If your supplier has recently gone out of business or refuses to provide you a credit or payment you believe you are entitled to, please call the ministry at 1-866-668-8297 ext. 16011 for assistance.

Contact the ministry before December 15, 2022, if you have any concerns about receiving your credit or payment from your supplier.

Record keeping

Keep a copy of your inventory report(s) for your own records, as well as purchase invoices (or other similar records) from suppliers that may relate to the inventory report for seven years.

Contact us

For any questions regarding this program, please contact us:

Stay connected

For up-to-date information on changes about the gasoline and fuel tax programs please subscribe to the Ministry of Finance’s email alert service.

Definitions

Collector:
a person designated as a collector under the Gasoline Tax Act and/or Fuel Tax Act.
Dealer:
a person who purchases gasoline or fuel for resale. This could be either a retailer or wholesaler as set out in the glossary.
End user:
a person who purchases gasoline or fuel for their own use; they do not re-sell the product.
Eligible product:
gasoline or fuel for which an amount on account of tax has been pre-paid prior to the temporary tax decrease that will begin on July 1, 2022.
Fuel:
diesel, blended diesel, clear kerosene and biodiesel.
Gasoline:
unleaded gasoline and ethanol blended gasoline.
Importer:
a person who brings or causes to be brought into Ontario fuel or gasoline in bulk.
Retailer:
a person who purchases gasoline or fuel to sell to end users.
Supplier:
a person who sells gasoline or fuel to a wholesaler or retailer. This could be either a wholesaler or collector as set out in this glossary.
Wholesaler:
a person who purchases gasoline or fuel to sell for resale. Wholesalers may or may not be a designated collector. If the person is not a designated collector, all the person’s purchases of gasoline and/or fuel products include an amount equal to the tax for the purpose of resale.