OTTAWA -- In response to lobbying efforts by the Canadian Trucking Alliance and member trucking associations like the BCTA, an International Fuel Tax Agreement subcommittee has agreed to develop a database with jurisdiction-specific information regarding alternative fuels and will consider including information on biofuel refunds.

Stephen Laskowski, senior VP of the CTA, recently contacted IFTA, requesting accurate information on claiming refunds for taxes paid on biodiesel and for that data to be displayed online.

Currently, IFTA and most provinces do not provide instructions on the tax return that clearly identify and calculate refunds related to tax-exempt fuels.

Truckers are pressing for a more central and
accessible process for claiming IFTA biofuel exemptions.

IFTA, so far, has noted that individual jurisdictions are responsible for providing that information and keeping it up to date.

To date, the agency has also been unwilling to guarantee the accuracy of any exemption information that member jurisdictions have supplied on its website, says CTA.

Following communication from CTA, however, the subcommittee will be discussing a ballot at a regular business meeting in July regarding how alternative fuels and blended fuels will be administered under the framework particularly in regard to reporting rate changes and incentives among member jurisdictions.

BCTA, which first recommended that CTA contact IFTA on the issue, says it will continue to press for "a more central, transparent, and easily accessible process for claiming biofuel exemptions on IFTA tax returns."