The Alberta Personal Income Tax Act was amended in 2002 to include Part 1.1 on the NHL Players Tax. Part 1.1 on the tax and the related NHL Tax Regulation came into effect on September 1, 2002. Alberta Finance, Tax and Revenue Administration (TRA), administers the NHL Players Tax.

The legislation requires all National Hockey League (NHL) players who provide hockey duties or services to their team in hockey facilities in Alberta to pay a tax. The tax is calculated at 12.5 per cent of the taxable salary the player earns for an NHL regular season game played in Alberta.

The tax for an NHL player for a calendar year will be the sum of the tax calculated for all games the player plays in Alberta during the calendar year. NHL players required to pay the tax are normally those on the “twenty-three player roster” for the game.

NHL teams are required to withhold, and remit to TRA, the NHL player tax for their players for regular season games played in Alberta in a month. Players are responsible for ensuring their teams have made the required remittances. Players taxable during a calendar year are generally not required to file an NHL player tax return with TRA unless their team(s) did not make any remittances on their behalf for the year.

This tax applies to all NHL regular season games played in Alberta after August 31, 2002, until December 31, 2005. Please note: The tax will NOT apply to games played in Alberta after December 31, 2005.

Returns for December 2005 are due January 16, 2006, as the 15th falls on a weekend. Players' summaries will be issued after all returns are processed.