Budget 2023 – Quarterly Filing and Remitting for All Cannabis Licensees

Excise Duty Notice EDN88

May 2023

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 refer to the Act or relevant regulation, or contact your CRA regional excise office for additional information. The offices are listed at Contact Information – Excise and Specialty Tax Directorate.

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 March 28, 2023, the Minister of Finance tabled Budget 2023, which included an announcement to allow all cannabis licensees to remit excise duties on a quarterly rather than monthly basis. Based on this announcement, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) will permit cannabis licensees to report and remit excise duties on a quarterly rather than monthly basis, starting from the quarter that began on April 1, 2023, if the licensee requests and receives authorization to do so. However, should the enabling legislation not be enacted by Parliament, all cannabis licensees that began filing and remitting on a quarterly basis based on this Budget announcement would be required to revert to calendar month reporting periods.

Quarterly filing and remitting for certain cannabis licensees

Section 160 states that every person that 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. Currently, for the purposes of the Act, a cannabis licensee’s reporting period is either a calendar month or a calendar quarter for qualifying cannabis licensees that meet certain conditions.

Budget 2023 proposes to allow all cannabis licensees that are authorized to file returns and remit excise duties payable on a quarterly basis starting from the fiscal quarter that began on April 1, 2023.

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 that they are compliant with the Act.

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 and Specialty Tax Directorate. For more information on quarterly reporting periods, call 1‑866‑330‑3304.

Revocation of the authorization for quarterly filing and remitting

An authorization for quarterly filing and remitting will 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 these 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