In case you missed it, in February, the federal Department of Finance announced its “Transitional rules relating to the elimination of the harmonized sales tax in British Columbia.” BC is aiming to revert from the unpopular harmonized sales tax to separate provincial and federal sales taxes by April 1, 2013.
The department’s rules specifically refer to the federal Goods and Services Tax measures. Organizations should read the rules in conjunction with any related Provincial Sales Tax measures that the province introduces. (However, BC has announced no such measures as of yet.)
The Canada Revenue Agency has also released a related document, “Elimination of the HST in British Columbia in 2013 – Questions and Answers.”
Affected organizations can contact the government of BC for transitional rules regarding the reimplementation of the PST by telephone at 1-877-388-4440, or by email at [email protected]. For more information on the elimination of the HST, call 1-800-959-5525.
We’ll keep watching this one.
Adam Gorley
Internal Controls, Human Resources and Compliance Editor