Bill 97 explained in plain English
Natural Gas Superhighway Act, 2013
Ontario legislature bill summary, status, timeline, sponsor, votes, and official sources.
At a glance
Official Legislative Assembly of Ontario snapshot for 40th Parliament, 2nd Session. Representative vote breakdowns appear when the Assembly publishes an Ayes and Nays page for the bill.
Our plain-language take, written for civic education.
Source: By PoliticalData.ca
The Natural Gas Superhighway Act, 2013 proposes changes to transportation weight limits and introduces a tax credit for natural gas vehicle purchases in Ontario.
This bill proposes to amend the Highway Traffic Act and the Taxation Act, 2007. The amendments would allow the government to set different weight limits for vehicles that use liquefied natural gas as fuel, and would provide a non-refundable tax credit for individuals and businesses who purchase certain vehicles that use natural gas as fuel. The tax credit would be equal to half of the Ontario portion of the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) paid on the vehicle, with some conditions on when the HST must be paid and how unused credits can be carried forward.
- Amends the Highway Traffic Act to allow the Lieutenant Governor in Council to make regulations for weight limits for vehicles using liquefied natural gas.
- Requires the Minister of Transportation to table an annual progress report on developing these regulations until they are made.
- Amends the Taxation Act, 2007 to create a new Part V.9 regarding a tax credit for vehicles that use natural gas as fuel.
- Defines a 'qualifying vehicle' as one that uses natural gas as fuel, excluding types or classes prescribed by the Minister of Finance.
- Allows taxpayers to deduct a non-refundable tax credit from their Ontario tax payable.
- Sets the tax credit amount to the lesser of the tax payable or the taxpayer's 'eligible amount'.
- Defines 'eligible amount' based on eligible expenditures (half the Ontario portion of HST paid on a qualifying vehicle) made within a specific seven-year period after the bill comes into force.
- Allows unused tax credits to be carried forward for up to five subsequent taxation years.
- Includes provisions for how partners in a partnership can claim the tax credit.
- States that the tax credit provisions only apply if the federal government agrees to amendments to the collection agreement to allow the Canada Revenue Agency to administer the credit.
- Specifies that the Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.
- Owners and operators of vehicles that use liquefied natural gas as fuel.
- Taxpayers (individuals and businesses) who purchase qualifying vehicles that use natural gas as fuel.
- The Minister of Transportation.
- The Minister of Finance.
- The Lieutenant Governor in Council.
- The Canada Revenue Agency (if federal agreement is reached).
- The Legislative Assembly of Ontario.
- The right for taxpayers to deduct a non-refundable tax credit from their Ontario tax payable for purchasing qualifying natural gas vehicles.
- The obligation for the Minister of Transportation to table an annual progress report if regulations on weight limits for liquefied natural gas vehicles are not made.
- The condition for the tax credit to apply, requiring federal agreement for administration by the Canada Revenue Agency.
- The Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.
- The tax credit applies to HST paid on qualifying vehicles in taxation years ending after the section comes into force.
- Eligible expenditures for the tax credit must be paid for in or after the first taxation year ending after the section comes into force, but before the end of the seventh taxation year after this section comes into force.
- Unused tax credits can be carried forward and deducted in the following five years.
- Provides a non-refundable tax credit to purchasers of qualifying natural gas vehicles.
- The credit is equal to half of the Ontario portion of the HST paid on the vehicle.
- Allows unused tax credits to be carried forward.
- The bill text does not specify penalties for non-compliance or for misuse of the tax credit.
- The administration of the tax credit is contingent on an agreement with the federal government and the Canada Revenue Agency.
- The specific types or classes of vehicles that do not qualify for the tax credit are not detailed and are subject to prescription by the Minister of Finance.
- The actual implementation of the tax credit is dependent on the federal government agreeing to amend the collection agreement to allow the Canada Revenue Agency to administer it.
- The regulations concerning weight limits for liquefied natural gas vehicles may not be made, in which case an annual progress report from the Minister of Transportation is required.
- The bill does not outline the specific process or criteria for the Lieutenant Governor in Council to make regulations for weight limits.
Allows for regulations to be made to set specific weight limits for vehicles that use liquefied natural gas as fuel, which would apply instead of existing weight limits.
Source: Section 126.1
Adds a new Part V.9 to establish a tax credit for taxpayers who purchase qualifying vehicles that use natural gas as fuel. This allows eligible taxpayers to deduct a certain amount from their provincial tax payable.
Source: Section 2 (adding Part V.9)
Is referenced in determining the eligible expenditure for the tax credit, specifically subsection 165 (2) concerning the amount of tax payable.
Source: Section 104.42 (4)
Generated using AI from official bill text. Not legal advice. It is written by PoliticalData.ca for civic education, automatically checked and spot-reviewed before publishing.
Official textProcess Snapshot
Vote Summary
This bill is still active. We only show vote counts after the legislature publishes a recorded division.
No published representative vote breakdown
This bill is still moving through the process. When a recorded division is published, representative positions can be listed here.
Official sources
Status, sponsor, votes, and timeline on this page are drawn from these official legislative sources and public records. Each summary above is attributed to its own source.
How this data is sourced