CRA reiterates its policy on backdated voluntary GST/HST registrations

CRA reiterated its established policy re backdated voluntary GST/HST registrations that:

If a taxpayer who is registering voluntarily requests that a registration be backdated beyond a 30-day period…[t]he taxpayer must provide evidence that GST/HST had been charged from the date requested on a regular and consistent basis. Documentation such as copies of the sales journal, sales or service contracts or the earliest 3 to 5 invoices are generally sufficient for this purpose.

What if the request is rejected? CRA noted that agents at the applicable Regional Correspondence Centre will have scanned the documentation that was sent in into a searchable database, and that if the request was denied because this documentation was insufficient, “taxpayers can resubmit the request and the appropriate proof to backdate the registration.”

Neal Armstrong. Summary of May 2016 Alberta CPA Roundtable, GST Q.6 under ETA s. 240(3).