Goods and Services Tax (Canada)

Goods And Services Tax (Canada)

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) (French: Taxe sur les produits et services, TPS) is a multi-level value added tax introduced in Canada on January 1, 1991, by then Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and his finance minister Michael Wilson. The GST replaced a hidden 13.5% Manufacturers' Sales Tax (MST); Mulroney claimed the GST was implemented because the MST was hindering the manufacturing sector's ability to export competitively. The introduction of the GST was very controversial. The GST rate is 5%, effective January 1, 2008.

The Goods and Services Tax is defined in law at Part IX of the Excise Tax Act. GST is levied on supplies of goods or services purchased in Canada and includes most products, except certain politically sensitive essentials such as groceries, residential rent, and medical services, and services such as financial services. Businesses that purchase goods and services that are consumed, used or supplied in the course of their "commercial activities" can claim "input tax credits" subject to prescribed documentation requirements (i.e., when they remit to the Canada Revenue Agency the GST they have collected in any given period of time, they are allowed to deduct the amount of GST they paid during that period). This avoids "cascading" (i.e., the application of the GST on the same good or service several times as it passes from business to business on its way to the final consumer). In this way, the tax is essentially borne by the final consumer. Unfortunately, this system is not completely effective, as shown by criminals who defrauded the system by claiming GST input credits for non-existent sales by a fictional company. Exported goods are exempt ("zero-rated"), while individuals with low incomes can receive a GST rebate calculated in conjunction with their income tax.

In 1997, the provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Newfoundland (now Newfoundland and Labrador) and the Government of Canada merged their respective sales taxes into the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST). In New Brunswick, and Newfoundland and Labrador, the current HST rate is 13%, while in Nova Scotia it was raised from 13% to 15%, effective July 1, 2010. HST is administered by the Canada Revenue Agency, with revenues divided among participating governments according to a formula. Ontario and British Columbia both harmonized the GST with their provincial sales tax (PST) effective July 1, 2010. However, the British Columbia HST was defeated in an August 2011 mail-in referendum by a majority vote of 54.73 percent. Conversion to the old GST/PST system is expected no later than August 2013. The current HST rate in BC is 12%. In Ontario, the HST totals 13%, however many of the pre-HST exemptions remain affecting only the provincial portion of the HST (for example, prepared food under $4.00 is not subject to the provincial portion of HST and is only taxed at 5%). On the other hand, some items that were only subjected to the PST were now charged the full HST (i.e., 13%). Although the Government of Ontario has made efforts to provide documentation as to what items are affected and how, this causes some confusion for consumers as they are often not sure what taxes to expect at the checkout. To accommodate these exemptions, many retailers simply display each tax individually as HST 1 and HST 2 (or some variant). The move to HST came about as part of Ontario's 2009 provincial budget. Only three provinces (PEI, Manitoba, Saskatchewan) continue to impose a separate sales tax at the retail level only. Alberta is the exception not imposing a provincial sales tax.

In PEI and Quebec, the provincial taxes include the GST in their base. The three territories of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut) do not have territorial sales taxes. The government of Quebec administers both the federal GST and the provincial Quebec Sales Tax (QST). It is the only province to administer the federal tax.