Guides
Tire recycling fees in Alberta and how they appear on your invoice
Alberta tire shops collect the ARMA advance disposal fee on every new tire sold, show it as its own invoice line item, and keep GST off that recycling charge.
What to take away
- Alberta tire shops collect the Alberta Recycling Management Authority advance disposal fee on new tires and show it as its own invoice line.
- The fee is a pass-through. It sits in a liability account, not in your sales.
- Ontario runs a producer-pay programme, so its fee hides in the wholesale price instead of appearing at the counter.
- Reconcile fee collected against new tires sold every month, before the remittance goes out.
What the advance disposal fee is and who collects it
Alberta Recycling Management Authority (ARMA) runs the province's scrap tire programme. Every new tire sold at retail carries an advance disposal fee that pays for collecting, hauling and processing that tire when it comes back bald.
You are the collection agent. The fee goes on the customer's bill, sits in your books as a liability, and leaves again when you remit it to ARMA. It never becomes your revenue.
The fee covers passenger, light truck and some commercial tires. It does not apply to used tires. ARMA sets the rate and revises it, so confirm the current figure with ARMA before you print a new batch of invoices.
Registration with ARMA is required before you sell new tires. Registration is only one obligation among several. Work through a tire shop compliance checklist so the ARMA paperwork sits beside your other requirements rather than behind them.
How Alberta's fee differs from Ontario's programme
Ontario's used tire programme is producer-run. Tire producers and importers pay the stewardship fee, and it arrives at your shop already buried in the wholesale price. You never see it as a line, and you never remit it.
Alberta puts the duty on the retailer instead. You collect at the point of sale and you remit. That means a visible line on every invoice and a schedule you have to meet.
If you run stores in both provinces, you need two processes. An Alberta counter person who moves to an Ontario store will keep looking for a fee line that is not there.
The Ontario regulation at e-Laws | Ontario.ca sets out the collection and management requirements on that side of the border.
Where the fee goes on the invoice
Put the fee on its own line, after the tire lines and before tax. Label it "Alberta Recycling Advance Disposal Fee" or "ARMA Tire Fee". "Environmental charge" and "shop supplies" tell the customer nothing and invite an argument at the counter.
Invoice fee line example
- 4Tires at $150 each
- $16.00ARMA fee (4 x $4)
- $30.00GST on tires only
- $646.00Total due
Show it per tire where you can. Four tires at the fee rate is a sum the customer can check in their head, and it matches your POS report at month end.
Build the line into your tire shop quote template so it appears on the estimate, the work order and the invoice without anyone retyping it.
The fee line has to survive the whole tire shop operations chain, from the quote through the work order to the final invoice, so test it on one job before you roll it out.
A worked example on one invoice
The fee is a flat amount per new tire. ARMA publishes the current rate in its advance disposal fee schedule. The example below uses $4 per tire, the published rate for passenger and light truck tires. Confirm the figure on the schedule before you print a new batch of invoices.
Four new tires at $150 each, ARMA fee at $4 per tire:
| Line | Description | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tires (4 x $150) | $600.00 |
| 2 | Alberta Recycling Advance Disposal Fee (4 x $4) | $16.00 |
| 3 | GST 5% on $600.00 | $30.00 |
| 4 | Total due | $646.00 |
You remit $16 to ARMA and $30 to the Canada Revenue Agency. Substitute your own tire price and the current ARMA rate and the arithmetic holds.
Keeping the fee out of your taxable sales
The fee is not part of the tire's selling price, so GST applies to the tire only. Charge GST on the tire price, then add the fee as a separate line.
Fold the fee into the tire price and charge GST on the total, and you overcharge the customer, overstate your GST, and under-remit ARMA by the same amount. Both errors surface in an audit.
Alberta has no PST, so GST is the only tax on the invoice. Rates and what they apply to are set out at Charge and collect the GST/HST - Canada.ca. When you file, the fee is excluded from taxable sales; Calculate and prepare to report the GST/HST - Canada.ca covers the return itself.
Tires sold with the fee attached must still meet Motor Vehicle Tire Safety Regulations.
Record keeping and remittance
Open a dedicated liability account for the fee. Each collection credits it; each remittance to ARMA debits it. The balance should always equal fees collected and not yet remitted.
Reconcile monthly. Multiply new tires sold, from your POS report, by the current ARMA rate, and compare that to the ledger balance. A gap usually means a tire sold without the fee line or a rate change the POS still carries at the old figure.
ARMA sets the remittance schedule, and your registration documents state the frequency and the due date. Any interest or penalty for a late payment comes from the same agreement. Read those terms once and put the due date in the shop calendar.
Keep invoices and remittance receipts for at least six years, the CRA retention period. ARMA may also ask to see them. The cash flow and record keeping basics in new vs used tire shop equipment apply to the same filing cabinet.
Monthly fee checklist for the office
Monthly ARMA fee reconciliation
- Count new tires sold from POS report
- Multiply by current ARMA rate
- Compare to fee ledger balance
- Confirm every invoice shows fee line
- Confirm GST charged on tires only
- File remittance receipts in ARMA folder
- Update POS fee code on rate change
Monthly fee checklist
- Pull the month's new tire count from the POS report.
- Apply the ARMA rate in force to that count and write down the expected fee.
- Match the result against the balance in the fee liability account.
- Check any gapa tire sold without the fee line, a fee charged on a used tire, or an old rate still sitting in the POS.
- File the invoices that show the fee together with the remittance receipt.
- Confirm the next remittance date is in the shop calendar before you close the month.
What customers ask at the counter
The first question is why a fee sits on top of the tire price. It is a provincial recycling charge, not a shop charge, and it pays for the tire's end of life. Say it that way and most customers stop there.
Some customers say they paid it when they bought tires before. The fee attaches to each new tire sold, so a new set carries it again. It is not a one-time charge per vehicle.
Others ask whether keeping their old tires avoids it. It does not. A trade-in credit for returned tires is a separate line and does not reduce the fee.
You cannot waive the fee for a customer who refuses it. It is collected on ARMA's behalf, and a waived fee comes out of your own remittance. How to present fees alongside labour and parts is covered in tire shop pricing.
Common questions
Is the advance disposal fee subject to GST?
No. It is a pass-through charge collected for ARMA, so GST applies to the tire price only.
Do I charge the fee on used tires?
No. The fee applies to new tires sold at retail. Used tires sold on their own or with a vehicle do not carry it.
What if I sell tires online to an Alberta address?
The fee still applies to tires delivered into Alberta. Register with ARMA and remit on the same schedule as your counter sales.
How often do I remit, and what records do I keep?
ARMA sets the schedule for your account, and your registration documents state the frequency and the due date. Keep invoices showing the fee, remittance receipts and the ledger for at least six years.
