Ottawa must pass a law revoking digital service tax before refunds are issued: CRA

The Canada Revenue Agency says taxpayers who already paid the now-defunct digital services tax will have to wait for Ottawa to pass new legislation before they can get their refund.

Prime Minister Mark Carney announced late Sunday that, in a bid to restart trade negotiations with the United States, Canada was dropping the tax on global tech giants.

The first payment was due Monday and could have cost American companies like Amazon and Uber billions of dollars.

A CRA spokesperson says the agency already collected some revenue from the digital services tax before Ottawa's reversal but didn't cite an amount.

MPs are now on their summer break and the spokesperson says they'll need to pass legislation formally revoking the tax when Parliament returns in order for taxpayers to get their money back.

The CRA waived the requirement for taxpayers to file a DST return ahead of the June 30 deadline and will not ask for any related payments in the meantime.