Is my real property taxable for GST/HST purposes?
Is my real property taxable for GST/HST purposes? The way to understand section 9 of Part I of Schedule V is that it is the provision that generally exempts all real property other than a residential complex or farmland (which have their own provisions) subject to exclusions. The first and most important exclusion is whether […]
Bare Trusts and the GST/HST
Bare Trusts and the GST/HST I remember the first time I heard the term bare trust and had no inkling of what it meant. For simplicity, a trust is defined as a person under subsection 123(1) of the Excise Tax Act. A bare trust is a trust that holds the legal title to property and […]
Who pays the tax with platforms like Airbnb, Etsy and others?
Who pays the tax with platforms like Airbnb, Etsy and others? On July 1, 2022, the grace period for non-resident digital economy companies like Airbnb, Etsy, Turo, and many others, elapsed and they were required to register for GST/HST under Subdivision E. These platforms began collecting and remitting tax, and confusion soon followed among suppliers […]
Due diligence and director liability
Tax Court cases are often very interesting to understand how the position the legal profession takes on a matter can differ greatly from that of the CRA. In Hirjee v. The King, the CRA took the position that a corporate director failed to exercise their due diligence for remitting tax collected under the ETA and therefore was […]
Massive TFSA overcontribution and the consequences.
A recent article in the Financial Post highlights the risks in overcontributing to a TFSA and the consequences. In the scenario the taxpayer withdrew >$600K from a line of credit and invested it into the stock market in 2020 and held the equities in his TFSA. What he didn’t understand is that there is an annual and […]
Are Professional fees deductible for objecting to an assessment or reassessment of income tax?
The ZheroTax business model is to not charge a fee unless the tax professional reduces or eliminates the taxpayer’s amounts owed. Either the taxpayer wins or they don’t pay. However, if they win, there is still a fee and the people at Tax Pages have done a great job of explaining why those fees are […]
Are You Eligible For The Public Service Bodies Rebate?
If your organization is a registered charity, a qualifying non-profit, or a selected public service body it can claim significant amounts of GST/HST paid in respect of its exempt activities just by completing a public service bodies rebate a couple of times per year. There are at least 86,000 public service bodies in Canada and […]
Are food delivery drivers liable for GST/HST that wasn’t paid by food delivery companies like UberEats and Skip The Dishes
Assuming the driver isn’t a small supplier ($30k or less in 4 calendar quarters), the short answer is, probably yes. This will come as a surprise to many drivers who have been led to believe that the supply is zero-rated. Frankly, as a former GST/HST Rulings officer, I don’t know how the author of that […]
Is Tax Law Fair?
The short answer is yes. The legislators for the most part try to create fair and equitable outcomes where a person has made an error in remitting what is owed by law. For example, section 296 of the Excise Tax Act (ETA) has several provisions that allow the taxpayer to claim tax credits and rebates […]
Tax Court: Round 2
Today I attended the Tax Court of Canada (TCC) again for the purposes of observing a case on the denial of a New Housing Rebate (NHR). The lawyer for the Department of Justice (Respondent) began their case by requesting a quashing of the appeal for being filed outside the statutory periods for objection. The Respondent […]