Alberta Extends Tourism Levy Abatement Period

Alberta recently issued Special Notice Vol. 7 No. 11, Extension of Tourism Levy Abatement, which notes that a previously announced decision that tourism levy amounts collected between March 1 and December 31, 2020 can be kept by hotels and other lodging providers has been extended to March 31, 2021.  Refer to our  Tax Development COVID-19 – Alberta Provides Information on Tourism Levy for details on the original announcement.

Under this extension, accommodation providers are now not required to remit amounts of tourism levy charged to customers between March 1, 2020 and March 1, 2021 and the funds may be kept for the provider’s use. The province will not impose interest or fines otherwise applicable under the Tourism Levy Act for failure to remit tourism levy amounts collected during this period. Nevertheless, operators must continue to file tourism levy returns for the abatement period as required by the Act.