Canadian Armed Forces personnel who lost deployed tax relief could get it back

A group of Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) deployed to Kuwait could soon get back the tax relief taken from them in the fall of 2016.

The federal government is supporting a Conservative motion that would return the tax relief retroactively to troops stationed at Camp Arifjan. This motion would apply to those CAF members who lost the relief in Sept. 2016.

Fifteen military personnel lost the tax break after officials reevaluated the risk assessment for Operation IMPACT, CAF’s contribution in the fight against Daesh.

However, according to CTV News, the motion would not apply to those soldiers deployed to the region in 2017.

On Thursday, March 8, Minister of Defence Harjit Sajjan addressed parliament on the issue of the tax relief and risk allowance.

“Generation after generation of Canadians have tackled missions facing great risk. Risk is an inherent part of the important jobs that our forces members do on behalf of Canada and Canadians. Therefore, risk assessment is not a process we take lightly,” said Sajjan.

The minister also noted that he has asked the chief of the defence staff to review the rules around tax-relief for military personnel.

“The highly political approach that the opposition has taken to this issue may give Canadians a false impression that our Canadian men and women are demanding more money in exchange, but this is not the case. Our women and men chose to sacrifice a great deal in order to serve their country. We want to honour that spirit of sacrifice to ensure we have a fair, transparent compensating system for them,” added Sajjan.

He also added, Thursday, that he supported the conservative motion, led by Conservative MP James Bezan, to return the tax relief to these soldiers.