March 2019 Newsletter
Whether or not you’re in a Harmonized Sales Tax province, if you carry on business you need to know the rules for when to charge HST. You might be surprised!
The GST/HST rates are:
- 13% HST for a supply “made in” Ontario (generally customers located in Ontario)
- 15% HST for a supply “made in” New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland & Labrador (generally customers located in the Atlantic provinces)
- 5% GST for a supply “made in” any other province or the territories. (Quebec has a GST-like Quebec Sales Tax, which is not part of the HST, and is discussed in the next article. Alberta and the territories have only the 5% GST. Each of B.C., Saskatchewan and Manitoba has a provincial retail sales tax that does not apply to vendors outside the province.)
Try this quiz and see how you do. Answers are further down the page.
- You’re in Calgary and you sell widgets. A customer in Halifax orders a widget and you ship it to her in Halifax. What rate of tax do you charge?
- You’re in Calgary and you sell widgets. A customer in Halifax orders a widget and you “deliver” it at your warehouse in Calgary. In order to get the widget to her, you also arrange (as your customer’s agent) for a courier company to deliver the widget to her. What rate of tax do you charge?
- You’re in Calgary and you sell widgets. A customer in Halifax orders a widget and you deliver it at your warehouse in Calgary. In order to get the widget, your customer calls a courier company to have the widget picked up at your warehouse. What rate of tax do you charge?
- You’re an engineer based in Charlottetown. A client in Winnipeg thinks he’s invented a new device, and wants you to review his design plans to tell him if they will work. You stay at your office in Charlottetown, review the plans, write a report and bill the client. What rate of tax do you charge?
- You’re an engineer based in Charlottetown. A client in Winnipeg thinks he’s invented a new device, and wants you to review his design plans to tell him if they will work. You travel to Winnipeg, review the plans, write a report and bill the client. What rate of tax do you charge?
- You’re an engineer based in Charlottetown. A client in Winnipeg thinks he’s invented a new device, but is being sued by a competitor in Ontario who says your client stole the plans. They’re in litigation in the Ontario courts. You stay at your office in Charlottetown, review the plans, write an expert report for your client to use in the litigation and bill the client. What rate of tax do you charge?
- Following #6, you travel to Toronto to testify as an expert witness in the trial, on behalf of your Winnipeg client. What rate of tax do you charge?
- You’re a hair stylist in Edmonton. You style the hair of a client from New Brunswick who is visiting Edmonton. What rate of tax do you charge?
- You’re a plastic surgeon in Edmonton doing facelifts (which are taxable when done solely for cosmetic reasons). You do a facelift for a patient from New Brunswick who is visiting Edmonton. What rate of tax do you charge?
- You’re a computer expert based in New Brunswick. A business customer from a nearby town in Quebec sends you a computer to repair. You repair it and return it. What rate of tax do you charge?
(See further down the page for the answers.)
Last modified on March 14, 2019 12:00 am