What kinds of cases are you looking for?   
< Previous Case Next Case >

PST — invoices written up incorrectly

My client operated a furniture store. The owner had frequently shown GST and PST combined as "15% tax" on invoices on top of the list price of furniture, and then discounted the invoice by an amount to reach a "bottom line" which the customer was willing to pay. He then (correctly) remitted 7/115 of the bottom-line figure as GST and 8/115 as PST.

An Ontario Ministry of Finance Retail Sales Tax auditor took the position that the PST was 8% of the list price, rather than being 8/115 of the discounted bottom-line price. The auditor proposed to assess my client for some $60,000 of under-remitted provincial sales tax.

I wrote a detailed letter to the auditor, drawing on numerous provisions of the legislation as well as the constitutional reason for the requirement that PST be shown as "extra" rather than "included" on invoices. I demonstrated that there was no prohibition on a discount being tax-included, and that the Ontario government was not out of pocket as a result of the way my client recorded the sales on his invoices.

When the auditor and the audit manager still disagreed, I asked the Director of the Ministry regional office to review the file. He agreed with my position and the proposed assessment was cancelled.

Problem vanished!

(1998)