I would like to call on our local federal MP Dan Tehan to help clarify what the government classifies as a “small business” and whether it is truck size or fleet size that influences who will be paying the carbon tax.

I own and operate two tow trucks. I don’t have any employees at the moment but was hoping to employ someone to operate one of the trucks in the future, but with the threat of carbon tax and increased fuel prices I don’t know if this will now be possible.

As I said, I have two trucks both of which are over three-tonne capacity, one is a four-tonne tilt/slide tray and the other is my heavy tilt tray with a 13.9-tonne capacity.

So my question is, will I have to pay the carbon tax based on the tonnage of my trucks or will I qualify for the exemption because I only have two trucks and am an owner/operator and therefore a small business?

I am also curious to know how the different pricing will be implemented at the fuel pumps or will the carbon tax be adjusted into the end-of-year tax return of businesses.

 If these changes are implemented at service stations how will it be policed, who does it fall on to prove to the service station staff, or owner or operator, that your truck is or isn’t to have the carbon tax applied to it?

How does a driver prove that their truck is part of a fleet belonging to a small business and as such should not pay the extra 15 cents per litre to the service station and in turn does the service station owner then have to pay this quarterly along with his GST?

Which creates the need to ask another question. Does the extra 15 cents per litre of fuel incur GST, making it actually equal 16 and a half cents extra per litre, or is that still to be calculated on the original fuel price?

There are many other questions and aspects of the carbon tax that need to be clarified but these are the ones I could think of while writing this email. As I think of more I will be asking them.

Bill Stewart, owner-operator, Killarney & District Towing