Deployed Canadian troops in Kuwait may get back tax break

CTV National News: Tax break battle Mercedes Stephenson on the government's about face regarding a policy that saw some soldiers losing a tax break.

The federal government is supporting a Conservative motion to ensure a group of deployed troops in Kuwait will get back a tax break for military personnel on dangerous missions.

The tax relief will be applied retroactively to troops who were stationed at Camp Arifjan who lost the tax break in September of 2016.

But CTV News has learned it’s a limited offer. The government will only extend the benefit to those who were at Camp Arifjan until December of 2016. Troops who shipped out in 2017 won’t benefit from the tax break.

There is also no word on what will happen to the more than 300 Canadians stationed at a second base in Kuwait who are scheduled to lose their tax break in June.

CTV News first reported that 15 military personnel at Camp Arifjan lost the tax break, worth $1,500 to $1,800 a month, after officials readjusted the risk assessment in September.

The affected troops serve in the mission fighting the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. Those who enter Iraq frequently for the mission were among those who lost the tax exemption.

On Thursday, Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan said the Liberals would support a motion from Conservative defence critic James Bezan to give back the tax break to those soldiers.

“We support the motion related to Canadian Forces members in Arifjan who were deployed with the risk levels that were adjusted,” he said.

One of those Canadian Forces members, who spoke to CTV News on condition of anonymity, welcomed the news.

“I’m ecstatic, I think it’s just fantastic if it happens,” he said.

“There were people here who were suffering significant economic hardships. For a lot of the soldiers that are here, this is a godsend.”

While it remains unclear whether hundreds more will benefit, the defence minister told CTV’s Power Play that changes will be coming soon.

“We’re going to look at all the various missions, especially the fact that we have a defence policy review that we conducted, and we’re going to look even wider,” he said.

With a report from CTV’s Mercedes Stephenson