Mr. Speaker, I have a Return to Written Question asked by Ms. Lee on June 19, 2002, regarding the application of NWT Payroll Tax to non-resident NorthwesTel employees.

All employees of NorthwesTel, whether resident or non-resident, are subject to the Payroll Tax Act. During the NorthwesTel strike, the Department of Finance did contact the payroll department of NorthwesTel to ensure continued compliance with the Payroll Tax Act. NorthwesTel was aware that the payroll tax is an employee tax that applies to remuneration earned in the Northwest Territories, regardless of the employee's place of residence. Employees of NorthwesTel who normally work outside the NWT, but who are temporarily assigned to duties in the NWT, are subject to the tax on the remuneration earned in the NWT, if the income earned here exceeds $5,000.

Temporary workers hired by NorthwesTel to be employed in the NWT for the duration of the strike and who, on conclusion of the strike, terminated this employment, would have been deemed to be "normally working in the Northwest Territories" and therefore liable to the tax on all remuneration earned while employed with NorthwesTel.