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GST/HST — input tax credits on inputs to exempt supplies

My client was a retailer that sold goods to consumers on credit. It formed a new company to carry on this business. Some of the company's costs related to the financial services it provided in extending credit to consumers. It claimed full input tax credits (ITCs) to recover all the GST/HST it paid on these costs.

A CRA auditor denied these ITCs, taking the position that the company was not entitled to ITCs on inputs to making exempt supplies of financial services.

I filed a notice of objection for the company, demonstrating that it was not a "financial institution" (FI) as defined. I then showed that, under Excise Tax Act subsection 185(1), the company was entitled to ITCs on its costs of providing financial services related to its commercial activities, because it was not an FI.

The CRA Appeals Officer agreed and cancelled the assessment, so my client got its ITCs.

Problem vanished!

(2016)