Guide for Canadian Small Businesses

Transcription

1 Guide for Caadia Small Busiesses 5&(5HY

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3 T he success of small busiess is a essetial part of Caada s ecoomic growth. At the Caada Customs ad Reveue Agecy (CCRA), our goal is to provide all the support we ca. We work i partership with small busiesses to improve services, reduce the burde of compliace, ad maitai cofidece i Caada s tax system. We created this publicatio i co-operatio with the members of the Small Busiess Advisory Committee. This committee provides advice ad commets o admiistrative cocers ad iitiatives to CCRA officials from the perspective of small busiess. The committee members are small busiess owers from all parts of Caada, from diverse backgrouds, ad represet all sectors of the Caadia ecoomy. Visually impaired persos ca order publicatios i braille or large prit, or o audio cassette or computer diskette, by callig weekdays from 8:15 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (Easter Time). This guide uses plai laguage to explai the most commo situatios. We regularly revise our publicatios to take ito accout chages i the law. La versio fraçaise de cette publicatio est ititulée Guide pour les petites etreprises caadiees.

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5 7DEOHRI&RQWHQWV Page How This Guide Ca Help You Iteret access... 5 About the CCRA... 5 Chapter 1: Settig Up Your Busiess Sole proprietorship... 6 How does a sole proprietor pay taxes?... 6 Partership... 7 How does a partership pay taxes?... 7 Corporatio... 7 How does a corporatio pay taxes?... 7 Are you resposible for your corporatio s debts?... 7 Keepig records... 8 Five reasos why keepig records ca beefit you... 8 Legal requiremets for keepig records... 8 Retaiig ad destroyig records... 9 Brigig assets ito a busiess... 9 Fair market value... 9 Buyig a existig busiess The Busiess Number (BN) Your first step to doig busiess with the CCRA Are you doig busiess i Quebec? Do you eed a BN? Why it pays to pla ahead Chapter 2: The Goods ad Services Tax (GST) ad Harmoized Sales Tax (HST) What is the GST/HST? O which goods ad services do you charge GST/HST? Which goods ad services are tax-exempt? Who registers for the GST/HST? Small supplier Volutary registratio How to register for the GST/HST Reportig periods How to collect GST/HST o the taxable goods ad services you provide Provicial sales tax Iformig your customers What to put o your ivoices Iput tax credits How to claim a iput tax credit Simplified accoutig methods Page The Quick Method The simplified iput tax credit method How to calculate the GST/HST you owe ad file your retur Chapter 3: Excise Taxes ad Excise Duties What are excise taxes ad excise duties? Excise taxes Excise duties Chapter 4: Payroll Deductios What to deduct from your employees paycheques Caada Pesio Pla (CPP)/Quebec Pesio Pla (QPP) Employmet Isurace Icome tax Workers Compesatio How to report payroll deductios The T Quarterly remittaces Do you have a computer? Chapter 5: Importig/Exportig Before you import commercial goods Are the goods admissible to Caada? What will it cost to import the goods to Caada? How will you accout for the goods ad pay the duties ad taxes? Must the goods be marked? What are the tariff classificatio, value for duty, ad origi of the imported goods? Should you get a Natioal Customs Rulig before importig? Itroductio to importig Form B3, Caada Customs Codig Form Commercial Cash Etry Processig System (CCEPS) Import permits, health certificates, ad other forms that govermet departmets require Settig up your import/export accout Examiig your goods Release, accoutig, ad paymet: your optios... 25

6 Page Accoutig for goods Tariff classificatio Value for duty Origi Certificates of origi Trade icetives how to reduce or elimiate the duty Duty deferral program Duties relief program Drawback program Boded warehouse program Remissios Refuds Review, assessmet, ad appeals Our review of your accoutig package Your reassessmet rights Your appeal rights Exportig Chapter 6: Icome Tax Accoutig for your earigs The accrual method The cash method How to keep sales ad expese jourals How to record your busiess expeses Fiscal period Icome Types of icome Ivetory ad cost of goods sold Expeses What are busiess expeses? Ruig a busiess from your home Types of operatig expeses Chapter 7: Audits What is a audit? How we select files to audit Page How we coduct audits Delays i the audit, ad how to avoid them Fializig a audit Chapter 8: Objectios ad Appeals What to do if you disagree with a tax assessmet Extraordiary circumstaces Problem Resolutio Program The objectio process Chapter 9: How To Get Iformatio From the CCRA Tax services offices Tax cetres The Iteratioal Tax Services Office Customs iformatio Customs offices Small busiess iformatio semiars New employer visit program Tax cliics Govermet of Caada Ifo Cetres Caada Busiess Service Cetres Busiess widows Publicatios Importat Dates for Icome Tax Glossary of Terms... 45

7 +RZ7KLV*XLGH&DQ+HOS<RX A re you startig a ew small busiess i Caada? Are you operatig oe already? The this guide is for you. It will itroduce you to the Caada Customs ad Reveue Agecy (CCRA) programs you eed to kow about, ad give a overview of your obligatios ad etitlemets uder the laws that we admiister. May activities of a small busiess are subject to differet forms of taxatio. This guide will help you with each of these, ad will explai how to pla for taxes, keep records, ad make ad report paymets. It will also explai the differet kids of busiess structures, icome tax reportig ad paymet, payroll deductios, importig ad exportig, ad how to prepare for ad hadle a audit. Taxes ca sometimes be difficult ad complex. I such cases, we will refer you to more detailed publicatios all free of charge. If you are t familiar with some of the terms used i this guide, refer to the Glossary of Terms which starts o page 45.,QWHUQHWDFFHVV May of our publicatios are available o the Iteret. Our Web address is: You ca also get copies of the guides ad forms metioed i this publicatio by callig us at If, after readig this guide, you eed more iformatio about busiesses or professioal activities, call our Busiess Equiries lie at $ERXWWKH&&5$ The CCRA is the federal govermet agecy resposible for admiisterig Caadia tax, border, ad trade policy, ad we play a fudametal role i supportig Caada s social ad ecoomic progress. We oversee various tax credit programs, ad collect federal ad provicial idividual icome taxes (except i Quebec). We also admiister federal ad provicial corporate icome taxes for all provices except Alberta, Otario, ad Quebec, ad collect the goods ad services tax/harmoized sales tax (GST/HST) (except i Quebec), Caada Pesio Pla cotributios, Employmet Isurace premiums, customs ad excise duties, tariffs, ad excise taxes o gasolie ad tobacco products. The CCRA also admiisters the North America Free Trade Agreemet (NAFTA), Caada s trade laws, ad Caada s iteratioal tax agreemets with other coutries. We therefore have a key role i helpig Caadia busiess ad idustry compete i world markets by esurig they have a fair eviromet i which to trade. Fially, we are resposible for protectig Caadia society agaist the illegal movemet of goods ad people across Caada s borders. We are committed to helpig small busiesses i Caada. We recogize that, as etrepreeurs, you are very busy makig your busiess profitable. You may ot always have the time, expertise, or icliatio to do it all yourself. I some circumstaces, you probably cosult with professioals, such as lawyers, accoutats, or customs brokers to help you with your busiess. While these idividuals are professioals ad will help you, you are the oe who is ultimately resposible for the actios of your busiess. You eed to keep iformed so that you ca work i partership with the professioals you hire ad with the CCRA.

8 &KDSWHU6HWWLQJ8S<RXU%XVLQHVV A busiess is a activity that you coduct for profit or with a reasoable expectatio of profit. There are three types of busiesses: sole proprietorships, parterships, ad corporatios. The way your busiess is taxed has a lot to do with the way your busiess is set up. 6ROHSURSULHWRUVKLS A sole proprietorship is a uicorporated busiess that is owed by oe perso. It s the simplest kid of busiess structure. The ower of a sole proprietorship has sole resposibility for makig decisios, receives all the profits, claims all losses, ad does ot have separate legal status from the busiess. If you re a sole proprietor, you pay persoal icome tax o all reveue geerated by your busiess. You also assume all the risk of the busiess. This risk exteds eve to your persoal property ad assets. As a sole proprietor, you have to register for the goods ad services tax/harmoized sales tax (GST/HST) if your worldwide aual taxable reveues are more tha $30,000. It s easy to set up a sole proprietorship. Simply operate as a idividual or as a registered, uicorporated busiess. If you operate as a idividual, just bill your customers or cliets i your ow ame. If you operate uder a registered busiess ame, bill your cliets ad customers i the busiess s ame. If your busiess has a ame other tha your ow, you ll eed a separate bak accout to process cheques payable to your busiess. +RZGRHVDVROHSURSULHWRU SD\WD[HV" A sole proprietor pays taxes by reportig icome (or loss) o a persoal icome tax ad beefit retur (T1). The icome (or loss) forms part of the sole proprietor s overall icome for the year. If you re a sole proprietor, you must file a persoal icome tax ad beefit retur if you: have to pay tax for the year; disposed of a capital property or had a taxable capital gai i the year; are required to make Caada Pesio Pla/Quebec Pesio Pla (CPP/QPP) paymets o self-employed earigs or pesioable earigs for the year; or received a demad from us to file a retur. The list above does ot iclude every situatio where you may be required to file. If you re usure, call us at As a sole proprietor, your icome tax ad beefit retur must iclude fiacial statemets or oe or more of the followig forms, as applicable: Form T2124, Statemet of Busiess Activities; Form T2032, Statemet of Professioal Activities; Form T2042, Statemet of Farmig Activities; Form T1163, Statemet A NISA Accout Iformatio ad Statemet of Farmig Activities for Idividuals, ad Form T1164, Statemet B NISA Accout Iformatio ad Statemet of Farmig Activities for Additioal Farmig Operatios; or Form T2121, Statemet of Fishig Activities. We will also accept a computer-geerated versio of the applicable form. Note As a sole proprietor, you may have to pay your icome tax by istalmets. You may also eed to make istalmet paymets for Caada Pesio Pla cotributios o your ow icome. Remember to budget for these paymets. For more iformatio, see our publicatio called Payig Your Icome Tax by Istalmets. For GST/HST, sole proprietors have reportig periods for which they have to file a retur. For more iformatio, see the sectio Reportig periods o page 15.

9 3DUWQHUVKLS A partership is a associatio or relatioship betwee two or more idividuals, corporatios, trusts, or parterships who joi together to carry o a trade or busiess. Each parter cotributes moey, labour, property, or skills to the partership. I retur, each parter is etitled to a share of the profits or losses i the busiess. The busiess profits or losses are usually divided amog the parters based o the partership agreemet. Like a sole proprietorship, a partership is easy to form. I fact, a simple verbal agreemet is eough to form a partership. But if moey ad property are at stake, you should have a writte agreemet. The partership is boud by the actios of ay member of the partership, as log as these are withi the usual scope of the operatios. +RZGRHVDSDUWQHUVKLSSD\WD[HV" A partership by itself does ot pay icome tax o its operatig results ad does ot file a aual icome tax retur. Istead, each parter icludes a share of the partership icome or loss o a persoal, corporate, or trust icome tax retur. Each parter also has to file either fiacial statemets or oe of the forms referred to i the sectio o sole proprietorship (or a computer-geerated versio of oe of these forms). You do this whether or ot you actually received your share i moey or i credit to your partership s capital accout. A partership has to file a partership iformatio retur if, throughout the fiscal period, it has six or more members or if oe of its members is a member of aother partership. Our publicatios called Guide for the Partership Iformatio Retur ad Iformatio Circular 89-5, Partership Iformatio Retur, ad its Special Release, have more details. For GST/HST purposes, a partership is cosidered to be a separate perso ad must file a GST/HST retur ad remit tax where applicable. &RUSRUDWLRQ A corporatio is a separate legal etity. It ca eter ito cotracts ad ow property i its ow ame, separately ad distictly from its owers. Sice a corporatio has a separate legal existece, it has to pay tax o its icome, ad therefore must file its ow icome tax retur. It must also register for the GST/HST if its taxable worldwide aual reveues (icludig those of associates) are more tha $30,000. You set up a corporatio by fillig out a article of icorporatio, ad filig it with the appropriate provicial, territorial, or federal authorities. +RZGRHVDFRUSRUDWLRQSD\WD[HV" A corporatio must file a corporatio icome tax retur (T2) withi six moths of the ed of every taxatio year, eve if it does t owe taxes. It also has to attach complete fiacial statemets ad the ecessary schedules to the T2 retur. A corporatio pays its taxes i mothly istalmets. Our publicatio called T2 Corporatio Icome Tax Guide has more details o istalmet paymets ad the filig requiremets for corporatios. For GST/HST, corporatios have reportig periods for which they have to file a retur. For more iformatio o reportig periods, see the sectio Reportig periods o page 15. The taxatio year for a corporatio is its fiscal period. For more iformatio o fiscal periods, see the sectio Fiscal period o page 29. For more details, visit our Web site at: $UH\RXUHVSRQVLEOHIRU\RXU FRUSRUDWLRQ VGHEWV" As a shareholder of your corporatio, you have limited liability. I the strict sese, this meas you ad the other shareholders are ot resposible for the corporatio s debts. However, limited liability may ot always protect you from creditors. For example, if a

10 smaller, more closely held corporatio wats to borrow moey from a bak or other creditor, the creditor may ask for the shareholder s guaratee that the debt will be repaid. If you agree to this coditio, you ll be persoally liable for that debt if the corporatio does ot pay it back. This applies to taxes owig as well. If your corporatio owes taxes, ad you have persoally guarateed ay loa o behalf of your corporatio, we will claim the amout of the taxes owig up to the limit of the loa guaratee..hhslqjuhfrugv )LYHUHDVRQVZK\NHHSLQJUHFRUGV FDQEHQHILW\RX *RRGUHFRUGVFDQKHOS\RXLGHQWLI\WKH VRXUFHVRI\RXULQFRPH You may receive cash or property from may differet places. If you do t have records showig your icome sources, you may ot be able to prove that some sources are o-busiess or o-taxable. :HOONHSWUHFRUGVFDQPHDQWD[ VDYLQJV Good records serve as a remider of deductible expeses ad iput tax credits. If you do t record your trasactios, you may forget some of your expeses or iput tax credits whe you prepare your icome tax or GST/HST returs. For more iformatio o iput tax credits, see page 16. :HOONHSWUHFRUGVFDQSUHYHQWPRVWRI WKHSUREOHPV\RXPLJKWHQFRXQWHULIZH DXGLW\RXULQFRPHWD[RU*67+67 UHWXUQV If your records are so icomplete that auditors caot determie your icome from them, the auditors will have to use other methods to establish your icome. This will cost you time. If your records do ot support your claims, they could be disallowed. <RXUUHFRUGVZLOONHHS\RXEHWWHU LQIRUPHGDERXWWKHILQDQFLDOSRVLWLRQRI \RXUEXVLQHVV You eed good records to establish your profit or loss, ad the value of your busiess. Iformatio from good records ca also tell you what is happeig i your busiess ad why. The successful use of records ca show you treds i your busiess, let you compare performace i differet years, ad help you prepare budgets ad forecasts. 3URSHUERRNVDQGUHFRUGVPD\KHOS \RXJHWORDQVIURPEDQNVDQGRWKHU FUHGLWRUV Creditors eed accurate iformatio about your curret fiacial positio before they give you a loa. You ca t give them this iformatio if you do t keep orgaized records. Also, good records show potetial creditors that you kow what s goig o with your busiess. /HJDOUHTXLUHPHQWVIRUNHHSLQJ UHFRUGV All records such as paper documets, as well as those stored i a electroic medium (e.g., o computer disk), must be kept i Caada or made available i Caada at our request. You ca keep these documets outside Caada if you get writte permissio from us. :KDWUHFRUGVVKRXOG\RXNHHS" Make sure you keep orderly records of all icome you receive. Also, keep all receipts, ivoices, vouchers, ad cacelled cheques idicatig outlays of moey. Such outlays iclude: salaries ad wages; operatig expeses such as ret ad advertisig, ad capital expeditures; ad miscellaeous items, such as charitable doatios. If you import goods ito Caada, your records must substatiate the price you paid for imported goods, ad list their origi ad descriptio. They must also iclude ay documetatio about the reportig, release,

11 ad accoutig of the goods, as well as the paymet of duties ad taxes. For more iformatio, see the chapter called Importig/Exportig o page 23. You should keep these records at your place of busiess or residece i Caada (uless you get writte permissio from us to keep them elsewhere). You have to make them available to us if you re asked to do so. <RXUUHFRUGVPXVWEHSHUPDQHQW Whichever accoutig or record-keepig method you use, your records must be permaet. They must cotai a systematic accout of your icome, deductios, credits, ad other iformatio you eed to report o your icome tax ad GST/HST returs. :KDWLQIRUPDWLRQVKRXOG\RXUUHFRUGV FRQWDLQ" It s ot hard to keep records that meet the requiremets of the law. However, sketchy or icomplete records that use approximate istead of exact amouts, are ot acceptable. Your books ad records must: allow you to determie how much tax you owe, or the tax, duties, or other amouts to be collected, withheld, or deducted, or ay refud or rebate you may claim; ad be supported by vouchers or other ecessary source documets. If you do ot keep your receipts or other vouchers to support your expeses or claims, ad there is o other evidece available, we may reduce the expeses or claims you have made. 5HWDLQLQJDQGGHVWUR\LQJUHFRUGV 7KHVL[\HDUUHTXLUHPHQW You must retai books ad records (other tha certai documets for which there are special rules) for six years after the goods are imported or exported, for six years from the ed of the last taxatio year to which they relate for icome tax, or for six years from the ed of the year to which they relate for GST/HST purposes. If you filed your icome tax retur late, keep your records ad supportig documets for six years from the date you filed the late retur. The miimum period for keepig books ad records is usually measured from the last year you used the records, ot the year the trasactio occurred or the record was created. For example, let s say you bought some restaurat equipmet i 1999 ad sold it i I this case, eve though the records relatig to the purchase of the equipmet were created i 1999, you eed them to calculate the gai or loss o the sale i Therefore, you must keep the records util You have to keep every book ad supportig record ecessary for dealig with a objectio or appeal util it is resolved ad the time for filig ay further appeal has expired, or util the six-year period metioed above has expired, whichever is later. 5HTXHVWIRUHDUO\GHVWUXFWLRQ If you wat to destroy your books or records before the six years are up, you must apply i writig to the director of the tax services office i your area to obtai writte permissio from the Miister of Natioal Reveue. To do this, either use Form T137, Request for Destructio of Books ad Records, or prepare your ow writte request. I additio to our requiremets, there are other federal, provicial, ad muicipal laws that require you to keep books ad records. We have o authority to approve destructio of books ad records that these other laws require you to keep. For more iformatio o keepig books ad records for icome tax purposes, refer to Iformatio Circular 78-10, Books ad Records Retetio/Destructio. For GST/HST, refer to Chapter 15, Books ad Records, of the GST/HST Memorada series. %ULQJLQJDVVHWVLQWRDEXVLQHVV )DLUPDUNHWYDOXH You may fid yourself i a situatio where you would like to take assets that belog to you persoally ad trasfer them to your busiess.

12 If you are operatig a sole proprietorship, this is a reasoably simple process. The Icome Tax Act requires that you trasfer these assets to the busiess at their fair market value (FMV). This meas that we cosider you to have sold these assets at a price equal to their FMV at that time. If the FMV at the time of the trasfer to the busiess is greater tha your origial purchase price, you must report the differece as a capital gai o your icome tax ad beefit retur. You ca claim a GST/HST iput tax credit based o the basic tax cotet of the assets you trasfer to your busiess. For more iformatio o basic tax cotet, call us at Your busiess will show a purchase of these assets, with a cost equal to the FMV at the time of the trasfer. This is the value that you will add to the capital cost allowace schedule for icome tax purposes. For icome tax purposes, whe you trasfer the property to a Caadia partership or a Caadia corporatio, you may trasfer the property to the partership or the corporatio for a elected amout. This amout may be differet from the FMV, as log as you meet certai coditios. The elected amout the becomes your proceeds for the property trasferred, as well as the cost of the property to the corporatio or partership. The rules regardig these trasfers of property are techical i ature. For more detailed iformatio, please refer to Iterpretatio Bulleti IT-291, Trasfer of Property to a Corporatio uder Subsectio 85(1), Iformatio Circular 76-19, Trasfer of Property to a Corporatio uder Sectio 85, ad Iterpretatio Bulleti IT-413, Electio by Members of a Partership uder Subsectio 97(2). %X\LQJDQH[LVWLQJEXVLQHVV Whe you are cosiderig becomig a busiess ower, you will fid that you have the optio of either buyig a existig busiess or startig up a ew busiess. The optio you choose will have a sigificat effect o how you accout for the purchase of the busiess assets for icome tax purposes. Whe you buy a existig busiess, you geerally pay a set amout for the etire busiess. I some cases, the sale agreemet sets out a price for each asset, a value for the ivetory of the compay ad, if applicable, a amout that you ca attribute to goodwill. If the idividual asset prices are set out i the sale agreemet, ad the prices are reasoable, the you should use these prices to claim capital cost allowace. If the idividual asset prices are ot set out i the cotract, you have to determie how much of the purchase price you should attribute to each asset, how much to ivetory, ad how much, if ay, to goodwill. These amouts should coicide with the amouts the vedor determied whe reportig the sale. The amout you allocate to each asset should be the fair market value (FMV) of the asset. You should allocate to goodwill the balace of the purchase price that remais after you allocate the FMV to each asset ad to ivetory. Example You purchase a busiess for a total purchase price of $120,000. The FMV of the et idetifiable assets of the busiess is as follows: Accouts receivable... $120,000 Ivetory... 10,000 Lad... 30,000 Buildig... 50,000 Total et idetifiable assets... $110,000 You ca determie the value of the goodwill by subtractig the total value of the et idetifiable assets from the purchase price: Purchase price... $120,000 Mius et idetifiable assets ,000 Amout attributed to goodwill... $110,000 Oce you have determied the values for the assets ad the goodwill, add the fixed assets (e.g., buildigs ad equipmet) ito the appropriate classes for the purpose of claimig the capital cost allowace. The goodwill is cosidered to be a eligible capital expediture, which is treated i a maer similar to assets eligible for capital cost allowace.

13 Treat the value of the ivetory as a purchase of goods for resale, ad iclude it i the cost of goods sold i your icome statemet at the ed of the year. For GST/HST purposes, if you buy a busiess or part of a busiess ad acquire all or substatially all of the property that ca reasoably be regarded as ecessary to carry o the busiess, you ad the vedor may be able to joitly elect to have o GST/HST payable o the sale by completig Form GST44, Electio Cocerig the Acquisitio of a Busiess or Part of a Busiess. You must be GST/HST registrats, ad you both have to agree that the sale will ot be subject to GST/HST. I additio, you must buy all or substatially all of the property, ad ot oly idividual assets. Usually, for the electio to apply to the sale, you have to be able to cotiue to operate the busiess with the property acquired uder the sale agreemet. You have to file Form GST44, o or before the day you have to file the GST/HST retur for the first reportig period i which you would have otherwise had to pay GST/HST o the purchase. Aother way of buyig a existig busiess is to buy the shares of a icorporated busiess. This does ot affect the cost base of the assets of the busiess. As explaied previously, a corporatio is a separate legal etity ad ca ow property i its ow ame. A chage i the owership of the shares will ot affect the tax values of the assets the corporatio ows. 7KH%XVLQHVV1XPEHU%1 <RXUILUVWVWHSWRGRLQJEXVLQHVVZLWK WKH&&5$ The BN is a umberig system that simplifies ad streamlies the way busiesses deal with us. It is based o the idea of oe busiess, oe umber. This helps busiesses reduce costs ad be more competitive. It also icreases govermet efficiecy. You get your BN the first time you register to do busiess with us. Evetually, busiesses will be able to use their BN for other govermet programs. The BN cosists of two parts the registratio umber ad the accout idetifier. The four major CCRA busiess accouts ad the accout idetifiers are as follows: corporate icome tax (RC); import/export (RM); payroll deductios (RP); ad GST/HST (RT). Busiesses that register for the BN will get oe-stop busiess services from us, icludig itegrated ew busiess registratio, a cosolidated approach for updatig accout iformatio, ad itegrated busiess accout equiries. Your BN, ad all iformatio relatig to it, are cofidetial. Note There are other types of CCRA accouts that the BN does ot yet iclude. For example, some maufacturers ad wholesalers eed a excise tax licece for excise tax purposes, ad some busiesses eed a filer idetificatio umber for filig iformatio returs. Cotact us at if you wat to fid out about these other accouts ad register for them. $UH\RXGRLQJEXVLQHVVLQ4XHEHF" For busiesses i Quebec, the BN does ot iclude GST/HST accouts. The miistère du Reveu du Québec admiisters the GST/HST o behalf of the CCRA. If you pla to register for the GST/HST i Quebec, please cotact the miistère du Reveu du Québec for more iformatio at this address: Miistère du Reveu du Québec 3800 de Marly Street Ste-Foy QC G1X 4A5 Telephoe: Outside Caada: (514) 'R\RXQHHGD%1" If you eed at least oe of the four CCRA busiess accouts listed before, you will eed a BN. However, before you register for the BN, you eed to kow a few thigs about the busiess you pla to operate. For istace, you should kow the ame of the busiess, its locatio, its legal structure (sole proprietorship,

14 partership, or corporatio), ad its fiscal period ed. You should also have some idea of what the sales of your busiess will be. Without this iformatio, you wo t be able to complete the BN registratio form. Note If you are a sole proprietor or a parter i a partership, you will cotiue to use your social isurace umber (SIN) to file your idividual icome tax ad beefit retur, eve though you may have a BN for your GST/HST, payroll deductios, ad import/export accouts. For more iformatio o the BN, please see our publicatio called The Busiess Number ad Your Caada Customs ad Reveue Agecy Accouts, or call us at :K\LWSD\VWRSODQDKHDG I cosiderig whe to register for your BN, keep several thigs i mid. Remember your legal obligatios. For example, you become a registrat who must register for GST/HST whe your taxable worldwide reveues (icludig those of your associates) exceed $30,000 over four cosecutive caledar quarters, or i oe caledar quarter. This threshold is $50,000 if you are a public service body. If you thik your sales will exceed $30,000 (or $50,000 if you are a public service body), it s probably wise to register for the GST/HST sooer rather tha later. Remember, registerig for the GST/HST is the same as registerig for the BN. Registerig early gives you certai advatages, such as the right to claim the GST/HST you pay o your busiess s start-up expeses from the time you register. For more iformatio, see the sectio Iput tax credits o page 16 i the chapter o GST/HST. Also see the sectio Ca you deduct busiess start-up costs? o page 35. If you ited to import goods ito Caada, you should ope a import/export accout before you import the goods. This will avoid delays at the port of etry. You should ope a payroll deductios accout as soo as you kow whe you will have employees. This accout will allow you to make regular payroll deductios for your employees ad make remittaces o time. For iformatio o how to make payroll deductios, see the chapter called Payroll Deductios o page 20. If you decide to icorporate, you will eed a BN to pay your corporate icome taxes ad to make istalmet paymets to your corporate accout. For more iformatio Guide for Partership Iformatio Retur T2 Corporatio Icome Tax Guide Iformatio Circular 78-10, Books ad Records Retetio/Destructio Iterpretatio Bulleti IT-291, Trasfer of Property to a Corporatio uder Subsectio 85(1) Iformatio Circular 76-19, Trasfer of Property to a Corporatio uder Sectio 85 Iterpretatio Bulleti IT-413, Electio by Members of a Partership uder Subsectio 97(2) Form GST44, Electio Cocerig the Acquisitio of a Busiess or Part of a Busiess The Busiess Number ad Your Caada Customs ad Reveue Agecy Accouts Form RC1, Request for a Busiess Number (BN) Web sites:

15 &KDSWHU7KH*RRGVDQG6HUYLFHV7D[*67 DQG+DUPRQL]HG6DOHV7D[+67 :KDWLVWKH*67+67" The GST is a tax that applies at a rate of 7% to the supply of most goods ad services i Caada. Three provices (Nova Scotia, New Bruswick, ad Newfoudlad) harmoized their provicial sales tax with the GST to create the harmoized sales tax (HST). The HST applies to the same base of goods ad services as the GST, but at a rate of 15%. Of this, 7% is the federal part ad 8% is the provicial part. Although the cosumer ultimately pays the GST/HST, geerally busiesses are resposible for collectig ad remittig it to the govermet. Busiesses that must register or that register volutarily for the GST/HST are called registrats. Registrats collect the GST/HST o most of their sales, ad pay the GST/HST o most purchases they make to operate the busiess. Registrats ca claim a credit, called a iput tax credit (ITC), to recover the GST/HST they paid or owe o the purchases they will use i their commercial activities. They do this by deductig the amout of the credit from the GST/HST they collected. If they pay more tha they collect, they ca claim a refud. 2QZKLFKJRRGVDQGVHUYLFHVGR\RX FKDUJH*67+67" As a GST/HST registrat, you charge 7% GST or 15% HST o the taxable goods ad services (other tha zero-rated) you sell, lease, trasfer, or provide i some other way. You ca claim a iput tax credit to recover the GST/HST you paid or owe o purchases ad expeses you use, cosume, or supply i your commercial activities. Examples of goods ad services taxable at 7% or 15% iclude: commercial real property ad ewly costructed residetial property; retals of commercial real property; car repairs; ad hotel accommodatio. Certai goods ad services are subject to GST/HST, but at a rate of 0%. These goods ad services are referred to as zero-rated supplies. You do ot charge tax o these supplies, but you are still able to claim a ITC to recover the GST/HST you paid or owe o purchases made to provide them. Examples of zero-rated goods ad services iclude: basic groceries such as milk, bread, ad vegetables; most farm livestock; medical devices such as hearig aids ad artificial teeth; prescriptio drugs ad drug dispesig fees; ad exports (most goods ad services taxable at 7% or 15% i Caada are zero-rated whe exported). :KLFKJRRGVDQGVHUYLFHVDUH WD[H[HPSW" Some goods ad services are exempt from the GST/HST. You do ot collect GST/HST o these goods or services. You caot claim a ITC to recover the GST/HST you pay or owe o purchases ad expeses relatig to such supplies. You caot register for the GST/HST if you re sellig or providig oly tax-exempt goods ad services. Tax-exempt goods ad services iclude: sales of previously owed residetial housig; residetial rets of oe moth or more ad residetial codomiium fees; clothig ad footwear;

16 most health, medical, ad detal services that are performed by licesed physicias or detists for medical reasos; day-care services provided for less tha 24 hours per day primarily to childre 14 years of age ad youger; bridge, road, ad ferry tolls; legal aid services; may educatioal services such as those courses supplied by a vocatioal school that lead to a certificate or diploma ad allow the practice of a trade or a vocatio, or tutorig services made to a idividual i a course that follows a curriculum desigated by a school authority; most services provided by fiacial istitutios (e.g., arragemets for a loa or mortgage); arragig for ad issuig isurace policies by isurace compaies, agets, ad brokers; most goods ad services provided by charities; ad certai goods ad services provided by o-profit orgaizatios, govermets, ad other public-sector orgaizatios such as muicipal trasit services ad stadard residetial services such as water. :KRUHJLVWHUVIRUWKH*67+67" You have to register for ad charge GST/HST if: you provide taxable goods ad services i Caada; ad you are ot a small supplier. You do ot have to register if your oly commercial activity is the sale of real property otherwise tha i the course of a busiess or if you are a o-residet who does ot carry o busiess i Caada. If you are a o-residet, see our guide called Doig Busiess i Caada GST/HST Iformatio for No-Residets. 6PDOOVXSSOLHU You are a small supplier if you meet oe of the followig coditios: if you are a sole proprietor, your total taxable reveues (before expeses) from all your busiesses are $30,000 or less i the last four cosecutive caledar quarters ad i a sigle caledar quarter; if you are a partership or a corporatio, the total taxable reveues of the partership or corporatio are $30,000 or less i the last four cosecutive caledar quarters ad i a sigle caledar quarter; or if you are a public service body (charity, o-profit orgaizatio, muicipality, uiversity, public college, school authority, or hospital authority), the total taxable reveues from all the activities of your orgaizatio are $50,000 or less i the last four cosecutive caledar quarters ad i a sigle caledar quarter. A gross reveue threshold also applies to charities ad public istitutios. For more iformatio, see the guide GST/HST Iformatio for Charities. I all cases, total taxable reveues meas your worldwide reveues from your sales of goods ad services subject to GST/HST at a rate of 7% ad 15% respectively, ad your zero-rated sales. However, it does ot iclude goodwill, fiacial services, ad sales of capital property. You also have to iclude the total taxable reveues of all your associates i this calculatio. Cotact us if you eed help to determie if you are associated to aother perso. If your total taxable reveues exceed $30,000 ($50,000 for public service bodies) i a sigle caledar quarter or i four cosecutive caledar quarters, you will o loger be cosidered a small supplier ad you have to register for the GST/HST. Cotact us if this occurs. Exceptio Taxi ad limousie operators, for their taxi operatios, ad o-residet performers sellig admissios to semiars ad other evets must register for the GST/HST, eve if they are small suppliers.

17 9ROXQWDU\UHJLVWUDWLRQ Although you do ot have to register for the GST/HST if your taxable worldwide reveues are less tha $30,000 (or $50,000 if you are a public service body), you ca register volutarily. +RZWRUHJLVWHUIRUWKH*67+67 If you have to register, or if you are a small supplier ad wish to do so, call us or visit your earest tax services office. You may provide the ecessary iformatio to us over the telephoe or by facsimile trasmissio. Alteratively, you ca complete Form RC1, Request for a Busiess Number (BN) ad retur it to us. For more iformatio, call us at Remember that if your busiess is i Quebec, you should cotact the miistère du Reveu du Québec at Their address is o page 11. 5HSRUWLQJSHULRGV We will assig you a reportig period for filig your GST/HST returs whe you register for the GST/HST. For each reportig period, you must file a GST/HST retur. The GST/HST reportig period is based o your estimated total aual taxable reveues i Caada as well as the aual taxable reveues of all your associates, if applicable. The followig chart shows the assiged GST/HST reportig periods based o your aual taxable reveues. $QQXDO7D[DEOH 5HYHQXHV RUOHVV PRUHWKDQ WR PRUHWKDQ 5HSRUWLQJ)LOLQJ 3HULRG DQQXDOO\ TXDUWHUO\ PRQWKO\ If your aual taxable reveues are $500,000 or less, you may elect to file your GST/HST retur quarterly or mothly. If your aual taxable reveues are more tha $500,000, but less tha $6,000,000, you may elect to file your GST/HST retur mothly. For more iformatio, refer to our publicatio called Geeral Iformatio for GST/HST Registrats. +RZWRFROOHFW*67+67RQWKH WD[DEOHJRRGVDQGVHUYLFHV\RX SURYLGH As a GST/HST registrat, you geerally charge 7% GST or 15% HST o the taxable supplies you make (other tha zero-rated supplies). Note If you make taxable supplies (other tha zero-rated) to customers i Nova Scotia, New Bruswick, or Newfoudlad, icludig supplies shipped or mailed to recipiets i these provices, you are required to collect ad remit the 15% HST. 3URYLQFLDOVDOHVWD[ Whe you have to charge both GST ad the provicial sales tax (PST), calculate GST o the price before you calculate the PST. For more iformatio o how to calculate PST i relatio to GST, cotact your provicial tax office. You ll fid the phoe umbers of the provicial tax offices i the govermet sectio of your telephoe book.,qiruplqj\rxufxvwrphuv As a GST/HST registrat, you must show your customers the total tax payable or let them kow that the amout payable icludes the tax. You ca show this to your customers o the ivoice, receipt, or cotract, or by displayig acceptable sigs. If you show the tax o your ivoice, receipt, or cotract, you must show the total tax or the total of the tax rate, that is, 7% or 15%. :KDWWRSXWRQ\RXULQYRLFHV At the request of your customers who are GST/HST registrats, you must provide them with specific iformatio that will allow them to support their iput tax credit claim. The followig chart shows what iformatio you should put o your ivoices, sales receipts, or other documetatio.

18 ,QIRUPDWLRQUHTXLUHG 7RWDOVDOH XQGHU 7RWDOVDOHRI WR 7RWDOVDOHRI RUPRUH <RXUEXVLQHVVRUWUDGLQJQDPH á á á á á á,qyrlfhgdwhruli\rxgrqrwlvvxhdqlqyrlfhwkhgdwhrqzklfk WKH*67+67LVSDLGRUSD\DEOH 7RWDODPRXQWSDLGRUSD\DEOH á á á á á $QLQGLFDWLRQRILWHPVVXEMHFWWR*67DWRU+67DWRUWKDW WKHLWHPVDUHH[HPSW$OVRDQLQGLFDWLRQRIHLWKHUWKHWRWDODPRXQW RI*67+67FKDUJHGRUDVWDWHPHQWWKDWWKH*67+67LVLQFOXGHG DQGWKHWRWDOUDWHRIWD[ <RXU%XVLQHVV1XPEHU á á 7KHSXUFKDVHU VQDPHRUWUDGLQJQDPH á 7HUPVRISD\PHQW á $EULHIGHVFULSWLRQRIWKHJRRGVRUVHUYLFHV á,qsxwwd[fuhglwv As a GST/HST registrat, you ca get back the GST/HST you paid or that you owe o purchases ad expeses related to your commercial activities. You do this by claimig a iput tax credit. You ca recover the GST/HST you pay or owe o goods ad services such as: merchadise to resell; advertisig services; real property ad capital property, such as office furiture, vehicles, ad other equipmet; ad geeral operatig expeses such as office ret, utilities, office supplies, ad the ret of equipmet such as computers, vehicles, photocopy machies, ad other office appliaces. Where goods or services are used partly for persoal use or for makig exempt supplies, you are etitled to a partial iput tax credit to the extet that they are for use i commercial activities. I additio, you ca claim iput tax credits for purchases of lad ad purchases eligible for capital cost allowace uder the Icome Tax Act, such as buildigs, computers, vehicles, ad other large machiery ad equipmet. Expeses for which you caot claim a iput tax credit iclude the followig: employee wages; iterest ad divided paymets; most federal, provicial, ad muicipal taxes; most fees, fies, ad levies; tax-exempt goods ad services; items for your persoal use or ejoymet; capital property that is ot primarily for use i your commercial activities; ad membership fees or dues to ay club that provides recreatioal, diig, or sportig facilities (e.g., fitess clubs, golf clubs, hutig ad fishig clubs), uless you acquire the memberships to resell i the course of your busiess. +RZWRFODLPDQLQSXWWD[FUHGLW To fid out the total iput tax credits you re etitled to claim for a reportig period, simply add up the GST/HST that you paid or owe o your busiess purchases made durig the reportig period. Most registrats claim their iput tax credits whe they file their GST/HST retur for the reportig period i which the related purchases were made. However, you ca geerally claim your iput tax credit i ay retur filed by the due date of the retur for the last reportig period that eds withi four years after the ed of the reportig period i which the tax became payable o the purchase that qualifies for the credit.

19 6LPSOLILHGDFFRXQWLQJPHWKRGV There are two simplified accoutig methods available for small busiesses to calculate the GST/HST they owe. They are the Quick Method ad the simplified iput tax credit method. 7KH4XLFN0HWKRG The Quick Method is a easy way to calculate the amout of GST/HST you owe. Geerally, if your worldwide taxable aual sales (icludig zero-rated sales ad sales of associates) are $200,000 or less (icludig GST/HST), you ca use the Quick Method. Certai persos, such as accoutats, bookkeepers, ad fiacial cosultats, caot use the Quick Method. +RZGR\RXXVHWKH4XLFN0HWKRG" You collect GST at 7% or HST at 15% o taxable supplies to your customers i the usual maer. To fid out how much GST/HST to remit to us, multiply your total GST/HST-icluded sales for the reportig period by the Quick Method remittace rate that applies to those sales. The remittace rate will deped o whether you provide services or goods for resale, where your busiess is located, ad whether you charged GST at 7% or HST at 15% o your taxable sales. Whe usig the Quick Method, you do ot have to separately track the GST/HST you paid or owe o most of your busiess purchases. The remittace rates take ito accout the tax payable o geeral operatig expeses. Therefore, you do ot claim a iput tax credit o your operatig expeses (such as utilities, ret, ad telephoe), meal ad etertaimet expeses, ad ivetory purchases. If you are usig the Quick Method at the begiig of a fiscal year or o the day you become a registrat, you are etitled to a credit equal to 1% of your first $30,000 of supplies that are taxable at 7% or 15%. For more iformatio, see the booklet called Quick Method of Accoutig for GST/HST. 7KHVLPSOLILHGLQSXWWD[FUHGLW PHWKRG The simplified iput tax credit (ITC) method is a alterative way of determiig the iput tax credit part of your GST/HST retur. You ca use this method if you are registered for GST/HST ad you ad your associates have worldwide aual taxable sales totalig $500,000 or less i your immediately precedig fiscal year. You do ot iclude supplies of fiacial services or sales of capital real property i the calculatio of total sales. To use the simplified ITC method, your taxable purchases (excludig zero-rated purchases) i Caada must also ot exceed $2 millio i the immediately precedig fiscal year. If you qualify, you ca begi usig the simplified ITC method at the begiig of ay reportig period i a fiscal year. You do ot have to file a separate form with us to use the simplified ITC method. With the simplified ITC method, you do ot have to separate the amout of GST/HST payable o each ivoice. Istead, you oly eed to track the total amout of your taxable purchases. You will, however, eed to separate your purchases that are taxable at 7% from those that are taxable at 15%. To calculate your ITC, you simply multiply your total taxable purchases by 7/107 for GST purchases ad 15/115 for HST purchases. For audit purposes, you will also have to keep the usual documets to support your iput tax credit claims. For more iformatio o the simplified ITC method refer to our publicatio Geeral Iformatio for GST/HST Registrats. +RZWRFDOFXODWHWKH*67+67 \RXRZHDQGILOH\RXUUHWXUQ For each reportig period, you calculate: the GST/HST collected or collectible o your taxable supplies durig the reportig period; ad the GST/HST paid or payable o your purchases for which you ca claim a iput tax credit.

20 The differece betwee these two amouts, plus or mius ay adjustmets, is your GST/HST paymet or your refud. If you charge more GST/HST tha you paid or owe, you pay us the differece. Make cheques payable to the Receiver Geeral. If you paid or owe more GST/HST tha you charged, you ca claim a refud. For more iformatio Geeral Iformatio for GST/HST Registrats Quick Method of Accoutig for GST/HST Form T1124, GST ad Icome Tax Recociliatio Form Web site: