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GST/HST — recovering tax from customers after CRA assessment

A company imported and sold goods to Canadian retailers. It charged customers 5% GST when it sent the goods to a non-HST province (such as Alberta), and charged HST when it sent the goods to an HST province (e.g. 13% HST for Ontario).

In certain cases, however, customers picked up the goods from my client's warehouse in Ontario, using their own trucks. The company mistakenly charged the retailers based on where the goods were destined — i.e., only 5% GST when the goods were headed to a non-HST province. The CRA assessed the company for the extra 8% Ontario portion of the HST in these cases, since the company had actually made the goods available in Ontario.

The company came to me for advice. I explained that the CRA was correct, and it was not worth appealing the assessment.

However, the company could bill its customers (retailers) the extra 8%, and the retailers would not mind because they would get an input tax credit for this amount. I showed the company how to bill the retailers in a way that would enable them to claim this credit, even where the original sale was more than 4 years ago. I also provided it with a letter it could pass on to the retailers to explain the procedure. As well, I explained how to ask the CRA to apply its "wash transaction" policy to cancel most of the interest on the assessment.

The company followed my advice and was able to recover almost all of the HST it had been assessed.

Problem solved!

(2015)