How Much Do We Subsidize Fossil Fuels?

Some people have a confused idea of what counts as a subsidy.

In the minds of anti-oil radicals, not collecting more taxes from fossil fuel producers and consumers is a subsidy to fossil fuels.

That’s like saying the government subsidizes you unless it taxes 100% of your income.

David Yager writes:

The notion that Canadian governments in some way subsidize the cost of the final product to consumers – as per the dictionary definition – is preposterous. According to PetroCanada the taxes on a liter of gasoline in Canada in 2015 above and beyond the cost of petroleum, refining and distribution included a federal excise tax of $0.10 per liter, GST/HST ranging from 5% to 15%, a $0.667 per liter carbon tax in B.C., and provincial fuels taxes ranging from $0.13 to $0.192 per liter. Similar direct fuel cost levies exist for diesel fuel. These can total 25% or more of the total cost or more depending on crude prices and where you live. It is estimated these fuel levies provide Ottawa and the provinces with $15 billion annually. This is on top of another $18 billion oil and gas producers paid to all levels of government in 2014 in the form of property taxes, income taxes, payroll taxes and producing royalties.

Some subsidy.

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