Revision to the Administration of Penalties Related to the Gasoline and Motive Fuel Tax in New Brunswick

New Brunswick recently issued a Fuel Tax Notice, FTN 0422, “Notice to all Interjurisdictional Carriers – Recent Changes to the Gasoline and Motive Fuel Tax Act”, alerting carriers that the administration of penalties has changed.  In the hopes of increasing compliance, the province will issue a Notice of Non-Compliance as opposed to immediately applying a fine.  In this way, the carrier has the opportunity to correct the non-compliance issue without the need for a penalty to be imposed and administered.  This change is effective with the 2012 fourth quarter International Fuel Tax Agreement (“IFTA”) filing requirement, which was due on January 31, 2013.

Penalties will now be imposed in the same way as tax assessments, which means there are new provisions for appealing penalties.  In addition, the Department of Finance now has the authority to deny renewal of an IFTA licence in any of the three following situations.  Where a carrier has:

• delinquent IFTA quarterly returns;
• an outstanding balance on an account, where acceptable payment arrangements have not been made and honoured; or
• an unpaid administrative penalty.

IFTA carriers are reminded that their licences may be revoked or suspended where any of the conditions of the licence have not been fulfilled.

NB Notice FTN 0422