Man Who Uses Solar Panels to Generate His Own Solar Energy Is Still Being Charged Tax in Canada | Home Design, Garden & Architecture Blog Magazine

Solar energy is among the most accessible alternative energy sources, easy to harness and a great resource for any household.

By 2050, studies show that solar power will become the most widespread non-electrical energy source around the world.

As long as there is sunlight in the area where you live and you have a set of solar panels, it should be very easy to capture solar energy and use it for personal or commercial reasons.
The off-the-grid movement is also becoming more and more popular each year, so solar power is a main resource for those wanting to cut-off from the electrical grid.

Since renewable energy sources are usually set-up and collected by those who choose this lifestyle, it is only fair that they expect no government interference and no taxation on the electrical power they generate.

But in August 2017, Kris Currie from Canada signaled a case of ”tax extortion” by his government and raised awareness of this issue.
After investing around $46,000 on 35 solar panels that he installed in his home, the Canadian government still charged him the Harmonized Sales Tax on the energy generated by his solar panels.

Some might argue that he received funds from the government to help him go off-the-grid,
but this isn’t even the case as he set up the entire system from his pocket.
But seems like there was an error in the system he set up, and namely, he is part of P.E.I’s net metering program, which means he still has an electric meter in his home.

This means, that in case his home system of renewable energy fails or is damaged, he can connect to the grid for free.
And even though he generates his energy,the excess power generated and not used by the household is then funneled back into the main grid and sold through Maritime Electric.

Therefore, the Canadian government considers that it is still fair to ask for a tax to be paid by Currie.

For now, there is no amendment to this law, so it means that even if you invest a lot of money in going off-the-grid in Canada, it still does not guarantee that you will pay fewer taxes.

If we look at the situation in the US, a new tax was introduced in 2005, called the Investment Tax Credit and the government came up with the idea of a federal solar tax credit.
This meant that the credit made it easy for solar power users to deduct 30 percent of the costs of setting up a solar energy system from their federal taxes.

This is a good example of how a government can encourage the population to switch to renewable energy resources and making the transition to an off-the-grid lifestyle much easier.