Prime Minister rings in new year with GST cut
The following is available on the Canada News Site …
Image and Article Source: Canada Newsroom
Conservative government fulfills commitment to reduce GST to 5%
Posts Tagged GST
About The Proposed Reduction of the GST rate by one percentage point from 6% to 5%, effective January 1, 2008
Proposed GST/HST Rate Reduction in 2008
November 13, 2007
Note: This notice supersedes the previous versions dated November 2007 and November 9, 2007.
On October 30, 2007, the Government of Canada announced in its Economic Statement that it proposes to reduce the GST rate by one percentage point from 6% to 5%, effective January 1, 2008. To facilitate the transition to the lower rate, the Economic Statement also proposes transitional rules for determining the GST rates applicable to transactions that straddle the January 1, 2008 implementation date.
This notice provides a detailed set of questions and answers that reflect the proposed amendments to the Excise Tax Act. Any commentary in this notice should not be taken as a statement by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) that these amendments will be enacted in their current form.
These Are The Legislative Changes Coming Soon For GST/HST Matters
From the GST Menu from Business Topics over at Canada Revenue Agency (CRA)
Ignoring Blockquotes On This Post…..
A new GST/HST processing system and legislative changes
I have received this email through my Efile Newsletter correspondence, of all places …
A new GST/HST processing system and legislative changes
The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) is replacing its current GST/HST processing system on April 10, 2007. We are also implementing changes to legislation relating to interest and penalties, which come into effect on April 1, 2007.
A new GST/HST processing system
GST is due today … for some
Just a reminder .. that if you are a monthly Goods and Services Tax (GST) filer .. your GST return for the month of December 2006 is due today.
If you file quarterly .. and have a year end of either December, March, June, or September .. your Q4 GST return for the period October 1, 2006 to December 31, 2006 is due today.
If you are like me, self-employed proprietor and an annual filer .. you won’t have to file your 2006 GST return until June 15, 2007. Although, FILING YOUR RETURN and PAYMENT OF YOUR RETURN are two different things altogether. Just like your income tax, payments and balances owing should be remitted by April 30, 2007.
GST Return - Filing Woes
I normally try to leave my clients out of this blog .. but something happened today that, in my opinion, makes a good learning example of what NOT to do - when filing Goods and Services Tax (GST) Returns. In my client’s case, the company is a monthly filer.
For monthly GST filers, the return for the current month has to be filed by the end of the following month. It’s pretty much the same for quarterly GST filers, where the return for the 3 months of the last fiscal quarter is due by the end of the following month. Canada Revenue sends GST registrants preprinted forms with the preprinted period dates and due date usually, just prior to the end of the current month - so you will have the form to use for the next month when it is due.
Changes to The GST “Quick Method” July 1, 2006
If you are a registered business that charge Goods and Services Tax (GST) on your sales or services .. you already know that this is TRUST money, and that you are only collecting these taxes on behalf of the government. You also probably know that when you can collect GST … you are allowed to deduct most or all of the GST that your business has paid, called “input tax credits” (ITC)s. I’ve discussed previously of ways to help make sure that all your GST ITC’s are recorded in your accounting system or by your accountant. For eligible businesses, you don’t have to worry about all this meticulous calculations because there is this thing called .. “THE QUICK METHOD” that Canada Revenue Agency has created. It’s been eligible for years .. but you have to ELECT (or apply) to use this method, then you would always use this method.
Inputting Cheques Into Your G/L System To Be Sure You Get 100% Of The GST Refunded
Businesses with sales over $30,000 CDN must register for a business number and charge 7% GST on their services or products, (6% beginning July 1, 2006). Just like the provincial retail sales tax (PST), to be compliant with the government, you must report and remit these collections over to the goverment. About this extra 7% money - it is “trust funds” - this money is not your extra profit. It’s money you collected as an agent or on behalf of the government and believe me .. they want it.
The good news, is that everybody else is also charging you GST, and you are allowed to deduct these GST payouts, or “Input Tax Credits” (GST ITC’s), to offset the amout that you have to remit. It is for this basic reason that bookkeepers (and business owners) and ME … are quite conscious to be sure to correctly separate the GST ITC from the expense amount, in order to maximize the refund or minimize how much Net GST the client has to pay.
GST Reduction July 1, 2006
Just a reminder … GST/HST Info Sheet about the Reduction of GST/HST ..
For those of you who will not be hiring technical support to change the rates in your Cash Registers .. you only have 35 days left to learn how to do it! So, you may as well start looking for those manuals soon!
The General Transition Rule states on Page 1:
Goods And Services Tax (GST) Rate Relief
And Speaking of Canada Revenue Agency …
“What’s New” on Canada Revenue Agency website ?
Reduction in the Rate of the GST/HST - Questions and Answers
May 2, 2006
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