Originally Published in the June 1991 issue of The Outfitter Magazine.
SMALL BUSINESS TRANSITIONAL CREDIT
Your business may qualify for a GST Credit for setting up your books to handle GST.
Your are eligible for a credit, if your sales total $500,000 or less during any 3 consecutive month period from January 1, 1990 to March 31, 1991.
The credit is $300 plus 2% of sales over $15,000…up to the maximum credit of $1,000. To calculate the amount of the credit, choose any fiscal quarter in the period January 1, 1990 to March 31, 1991.
Currently, Revenue Canada’s position is that, for quarterly filters, the credit must be taken on the return that covers the 1st full Fiscal Quarter of 1991 (see example below). Monthly filers were to have claimed the credit on the return that covered the last month of the 1st full quarter in 1991.
If your 1st full fiscal quarter in 1991 was: Jan.1 to Mar. 31, 1991, you must submit your amended return by June 30, 1991; Feb. 1 to Apr. 30, 1991, you must submit your amended return by July 31, 1991; mar.1 to May 31, 1991, you must submit your amended return by August 31, 1991.
If you didn’t claim the credit on your first return for the 1st fiscal quarter, you must amend that return…not simply take the credit on the next return. You amend a return by getting a blank Return Form from your local Revenue Canada office. Copy on to it everything from the original form…except “Line 107”. On this line, you add the amount of your Small Business Credit.
This will change “Lines 108, 113 and 114 or 115. Revenue Canada will then adjust their records and send you a refund.
If you’re an annual filer, you must apply to Revenue Canada for a “General Return for Rebate of GST Form” to claim the credit. Do it Now! (Information Reprinted Courtesy of the Retail Merchants’ Association.)
FISHING/HUNTING LICENCES
Editor’s Note: The following information is an opinion, and not a binding ruling, provided to the NOTO office by Revenue Canada.
The sale of such licenses are taxable at 7% (GST) and is charged on all consumers, regardless of origin. The camp owner must collect GST on the full amount of the license. He will then return to the province (MNR), the license money (less the commission fee paid to the operator by the province), and the full amount of the GST collected.
EXAMPLE: Sale of Resident of Ontario Seasonal Fishing License.
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Camp operator will charge the following:
$11.50 Fee for license .81 GST on license $12.31 Total collected -
Camp operator will remit the following to the province:
$11.00 Fee for license .81 GST on total license fee $11.81 Total remitted to prov. -
MNR will be responsible for remitting the total GST collected to Revenue Canada.
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Camp operator will retain $0.50 of the $11.50 total license cost as a commission. GST is not applicable to these commissions. However, operators are entitled to claim input tax credits for GST paid in purchases made in offering the licenses for sale, if the business is GST registered.
Also, non-residents are not able to claim a GST rebate for the amount of GST paid on fishing licenses.
RETURNING OF RECEIPTS AND ISSUANCE OF REBATES
Revenue Canada has advised NOTO that when visitors mail in their completed rebate claim form (along with all original receipts), rebate cheques are usually mailed within two months of the date Revenue Canada receives the paperwork.
Furthermore, receipts will be returned to the visitor approximately two to three weeks after the cheque is mailed.
