The Province of Ontario has Approved the
Waste Electrical & Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Program...
Effective April 1st, 2009, as an Ontario Resident
You Will be Paying a Recycle Fee
Every Time You Purchase an Electronic Device...
Let's face it... computers... and computer-related technologies can be resource hogs. Not just because they can consume a lot of electricity... but also 
because of the other things they require. Like petro-chemicals to make the plastic cases, fan assemblies, and the myriad of other plastic parts. Gold, silver, copper, zinc, nickel, aluminum, tantalum, ferrite, tungsten... to name just a few of the elements used to manufacture computer chips, circuit boards, etc.
Then there are…
Heavy metals – lead, mercury, hexavalent chrome
(chromium (VI)) and cadmium
Certain brominated flame retardants (BFRs) –
polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs), polybrominated
diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), hexabromocyclododecane
(HBCD) and tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA)
Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC)
As a result, disposing of obsolete computer gear has quickly become a serious toxic waste challenge.
Up until now, you had the choice of stowing your components in your basement or garage, sneaking them into the garbage pick-up, dumping them somewhere... or paying to have a recycling business take them from you.
Over the last several years, the Province of Ontario has worked to develop the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Recycle Program.
At the heart of this program is the levying of a recycling 'fee' on all electonic devices – collected at the front-end of the life cycle of such devices – from those who produce/manufacture and/or import them.
There's no argument about the need for effective ways to recycle all of the various individual compenents, elements, metals, chemicals and toxins... and keeping them out of our landfills. But there are controversies boiling around the seemingly heavy-handed way this program has been launched, the lack of response to the concerns of those most-affected by it... and the potential impact it will almost certainly have on the existing recycling companies throughout the province.
Then there's the notion that you may or may not be given the actual amount of the fee as a separate line item on your invoice. Right now it seems as if the province has agreed to let the fee be absorbed into the overall cost of the items it applies to. That seems a lot like the old manufacturers tax the GST replaced. It was hidden in the retail price so consumers were essentially unaware of it or its impact on the prices they were paying.
Rather than trying to repeat everything we've heard, you can access a letter the Canadian Taxpayers Federation sent to the Province of Ontario Ministry of the Environment in 2008 on our (taxpyers)behalf, with their many rational, seemingly grounded concerns. Read their letter here...
The bottom line is... on April 1st, 2009 we will all be paying more for our technology... and there's no clear evidence that the WEEE program will do a better, more thorough or comprehensive job of recycling than the existing service providers are already offering. And the sad part is... the very program that's designed to protect out environment and our health... may very well spell the end to the industry already in place, successfylly doing what the WEEE program is intended to do.
But there is some good news in all this...
Don't know whether it'll give you much consolation... but from now on, when you need to dispose of your unwanted electronic equipment (unlike in the past), you'll be able to drop it at any of the designated depots in eastern Ontario... at no charge.
But remember, after April 1st 2009 you'll be paying a ton of recycling fees – up front – when you buy new electronic equipment.
Just thought you should know...
Other Relevant Tax News...
The Federal Capital Cost Allowance (CCA) system determines how much of the cost of a 'capital asset' a business may deduct for tax purposes each year.
The Federal Budget, tabled in January, 2009 proposed a temporary 100% Capital Cost Allowance (CCA) rate for computer hardware and systems software acquired after January 27, 2009, and before February 1, 2011.
In other words, if the Budget is passed, instead of the Government’s traditional approach in setting CCA rates so the deduction for capital cost is spread over the useful life of the asset (typically 3-5 years), subject to certain conditions, it can all be claimed in the first year.
In addition, the rule restricting CCA deductions to one-half of the CCA write-off otherwise available in the first year will not apply to these computers.
The Government suggests this measure is intended to provide an economic stimulus by assisting/incenting businesses to increase or accelerate their investment in computers and software. They believe it will also contribute to boosting Canada's productivity through the faster adoption of newer technology... and that businesses in all sectors of the economy – including the services sector – should benefit from this incentive.
This is intended to ensure a neutral tax treatment for different types of assets so such investments can be allocated to their most productive uses.
We suggest you discuss this change – and its implications to you and your business – with your accountant or bookkeeper.
