Excise and GST/HST News - No. 102 July 2017

Non-compliance holds include SLFIs and deemed FIs that have not filed annual returns

[A] non-compliance hold… prevents any refunds or credits on the registrant’s account(s) from being issued until the registrant is compliant.

Beginning May 2017, the CRA has applied a non-compliance hold to all non-compliant GST/HST registrants including financial institutions that are GST/HST registrants that have outstanding annual information returns such as Form GST111…or RC7291… .

[W]here all other conditions are met, corporations that are deemed for GST/HST purposes to be financial institutions based on a section 150 election for exempt supplies that is in effect, are required to file Form GST111. …

VDP announcement in Fall 2017

On June 9, 2017, the CRA launched a 60-day online consultation with Canadians about the CRA’s proposed changes to its Voluntary Disclosures Program. … It is expected that the CRA will announce formal changes to the program in the fall of 2017.

Predominant element of ABM supply by downstream merchant is real estate licence or other taxable supply

…Shared cash dispensing allows a person to obtain cash or a cash advance using a debit, credit or charge card from ABMs not owned by the person’s financial institution.

The term “downstream merchant” described in GI-006 deals with a merchant (that is not a card acceptor) that provides space or a location for an ABM owned by another person. …

In these circumstances, often the predominant element of the supply made by a downstream merchant is the provision of a licence in respect of real property (that is, providing space or a location for the ABM). This is a taxable supply. … Where the predominant element of the supply consists of replenishing money, providing telephone lines, electricity or any combination thereof, the supply would also generally constitute a taxable supply.