Ferry commuters may be getting a tax break. The federal Conservative government has an-nounced that as of July 1, public transit users with monthly passes, including local ferry users, will be eligible for a tax credit. However, monthly ferry passes do not currently exist with B.C. Ferries. The Sunshine Coast Ferry Advisory committee has been alerting B.C. Ferries since June of the need to get started on working out with the federal government the logistics of how commuters could prove ferry payments in tax claims.According to B.C. Ferries, those discussions have begun.
"We have been in discussions with the Department of Finance in Ottawa about the credit so we need some more detail from them as far as how that will apply to our customers," spokeswoman Deborah Marshall said. "We certainly are advocates of our customers getting this tax credit, so we just have to see how it's all going to work. Certainly we have people who commute on a daily basis and this is the aim - to target people like that."
The goal of the tax credit is to get people out of their cars and onto public transit to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, according to a Department of Finance press release. The credit, proposed in the 2006 federal budget, will cover riders of "bus, streetcar, subway, commuter train, commuter bus and local ferry," reads a department backgrounder. "All transit users, including commuters, students and seniors, will qualify. Individuals making claims will be required to retain their receipts or passes for tax verification purposes."
Ferry advisory committee chair Ed Steeves suggests that implementing plastic Coast cards could solve the monthly pass issue. Steeves worked out that the tax credit would equate to two months free travel per year for Sunshine Coast ferry commuters. The tax credit could offset the cost of the ferry fuel surcharges, he added. He said it's "fabulous" that discussions have begun between B.C. Ferries and the Department of Finance.
"It's a great benefit to the commuters," Steeves said. "Whether the federal government will qualify them or not is the unknown factor."
The Canada Revenue Agency has outlined the information needed for a pass to support a tax credit claim, including that it must be a monthly pass, show a validity date, name the transit authority, show the amount paid and identify the rider, according to a press release. Otherwise, the agency recommends riders hang on to their dated receipts or credit card statements for rides after July 1.
Blair Wilson, West Van-couver - Sunshine Coast - Sea to Sky Country Liberal MP, said the Conservative government program is financially flawed.
"They haven't fully thought out the legislation," Wilson said. "I believe the only way they're going to be able to make it work is if B.C. Ferries and other ferries change the way they charge for their passes. They're going to have to come out with new monthly ferry passes. I'm in quite regular contact with B.C. Ferries on a number of issues, and this is one that I look forward to raising."
Marshall said B.C. Ferries will be updating the community on how the program will work to get the information to commuters.
