EDN76 Budget 2022 – Quarterly Filing and Remitting for Cannabis Licensees

May 2022

Except as otherwise noted, all statutory references in this publication are to the provisions of the Excise Act, 2001. The information in this publication does not replace the law found in the Act and its regulations.

If this information does not completely address your particular situation, you may wish to contact any Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) regional excise office for additional information. These offices are listed at Contact Information – Excise Duties, Excise Taxes, Fuel Charge and Air Travellers Security Charge.

Any commentary in this publication should not be taken as a statement by the CRA that the budget announcement will be enacted in its current form.

On April 7, 2022, the Minister of Finance tabled Budget 2022, which included an announcement to allow cannabis licensees to remit excise duties on a quarterly rather than monthly basis. Based on this announcement, the CRA will permit licensed cannabis producers that meet certain conditions to report and remit excise duties on a quarterly rather than monthly basis, starting from the quarter that began on April 1, 2022. However, should the enabling legislation not be enacted by Parliament, all cannabis licensees filing and remitting on a quarterly basis would be required to revert to calendar month reporting periods.

Quarterly filing and remitting for certain cannabis licensees

Section 160 states that every person who is licensed under the Act is required to file an excise duty return for each reporting period and to calculate and remit any duty payable not later than the last day of the month following each reporting period. For the purposes of the Act, a cannabis licensee’s reporting period is a calendar month.

Budget 2022 proposes to allow certain cannabis licensees to file returns and remit excise duties payable on a quarterly basis starting from the fiscal quarter that began on April 1, 2022.

The fiscal quarters would be based on calendar months, not a licensee’s fiscal year. All qualifying licensees would file four returns annually, and the return periods would be as follows:

• January 1 to March 31
• April 1 to June 30
• July 1 to September 30
• October 1 to December 31

Form B300 Cannabis Duty and Information Return under the Excise Act, 2001, along with the remittance of all amounts payable, would be due on the last day of the first month following the reporting period.

Qualifying for quarterly filing and remitting

A cannabis licensee may qualify to file returns and remit excise duties payable on a quarterly basis, provided all of the following conditions are met:

• the licensee has held a cannabis licence with the CRA for a period exceeding 12 consecutive calendar months
• they are compliant with the Act; including not having any outstanding returns
• the total of all excise duties payable under Part 4.1 of the Act by the licensee did not exceed $1 million in the previous 12 calendar months

Applying for quarterly reporting periods

A cannabis licensee that wishes to file and remit on a quarterly basis must submit a letter requesting approval to their regional excise office.

Contact information for the regional excise offices for submitting a request is available at Contact Information – Excise Duties, Excise Taxes, Fuel Charge and Air Travellers Security Charge. For more information on quarterly reporting periods, call 1‑866‑330‑3304.

Revocation of the authorization for quarterly filing and remitting

A cannabis licensee’s authorization for quarterly filing of returns and remitting of duties will be deemed to be revoked when the licensee exceeds a total of $1 million in excise duties payable in the previous four fiscal quarters (that is, 12 calendar months) of reporting activity. The revocation will become effective as of the first day after the end of the fiscal quarter in which the excess occurs.

The authorization for quarterly filing and remitting will also be revoked if any of the following occurs:

• the licensee requests in writing that the CRA revoke the authorization
• the licensee fails to comply with any conditions of the Act
• the CRA considers that the authorization is no longer required

In those circumstances, the CRA will send the licensee a notice in writing of the revocation and will specify the reporting period for which the revocation becomes effective.

Further information