16 August 1994 Headquarter Letter

"To be entitled to an ITC in respect of Division III tax, the person must be the de facto importer of the good (i.e., the person who caused the goods to be imported). Although the person listed as the importer of record on the B3 provides prime facie evidence that the person is the de facto importer, such evidence can be reversed through other evidence."

In a situation where an unregistered non-resident was listed as the importer of record, and it supplied goods to a registrant who wishes to obtain an ITC under s. 180, CCRA indicated that "a copy of the B3 Customs Coding Form will be considered sufficient evidence for purposes of paragraph 169(4)(a) and subparagraph 180(a)(ii) of the Act ... . An agreement in writing between the supplier and the recipient of the commercial service, or other relevant documents which will provide sufficient evidence in determining the identity of the supplier and the recipient of the commercial service and verify that the non-resident caused the transfer of the physical possession of the goods to the resident will also constitute sufficient documentary evidence."

In a situation where an unregistered non-resident was listed as the importer of record, and it supplied goods to a registrant who wishes to obtain an ITC under s. 180, CCRA indicated that "a copy of the B3 Customs Coding Form will be considered sufficient evidence for purposes of paragraph 169(4)(a) and subparagraph 180(a)(ii) of the Act ... . An agreement in writing between the supplier and the recipient of the commercial service, or other relevant documents which will provide sufficient evidence in determining the identity of the supplier and the recipient of the commercial service and verify that the non-resident caused the transfer of the physical possession of the goods to the resident will also constitute sufficient documentary evidence."