Post-secondary excluded
6. … The exemption under section 9 of Part III of Schedule V does not apply to services of tutoring or instructing individuals in courses offered at the post-secondary level (for example, college-level courses).
Recipient can be other than individual instructed
7. In order for the exemption in section 9 of Part III of Schedule V to apply, a supply of a service of tutoring or instructing must be rendered to an individual, but the recipient of the supply need not be that individual. … For example, the recipient of the supply may be the parent of the individual (the student) being tutored.
Requirement for direct connection between instruction and school credit, or curriculum-designed, course
9. Courses that are approved for credit by a school authority are generally courses offered at the secondary school level. Courses that follow a curriculum designated by a school authority refers to courses for which credits may not be given but where there is a curriculum designated by a school authority. These courses are generally offered at the elementary school level. For example, reading, writing, spelling and math instruction are generally part of a school curriculum for lower grades. Tutoring or instruction in effective reading, writing, spelling and math for the purpose of assisting children in meeting the requirements of their school curriculum will generally meet the requirements of paragraph 9(a) of Part III of Schedule V.
10. The service of tutoring or instructing an individual need not be limited to material contained in a course approved for credit by, or that follows a curriculum designated by, a school authority. The tutoring or instructing of an individual could also include general concepts dealing with the relevant subject matter, or material from lower grades, in order to assist the individual in understanding the material contained in a course approved for credit by, or that follows a curriculum designated by, a school authority. For example, where an individual receives a service of tutoring or instruction in general math concepts to assist with material in a course that follows the provincial math curriculum, that service of tutoring or instruction is exempt under paragraph 9(a) of Part III of Schedule V. In order for the exemption to apply, it must be evident that there is some direct connection between the supply of the service of tutoring or instructing in question and the course approved for credit by, or the curriculum designated by, a school authority.
[CRA then provided examples of general reading proficiency instruction qualifying, but general study skills course not qualifying]
Requirement for customized student interactions
12. Common characteristics of supplies that are not exempt under paragraph 9(a) of Part III of Schedule V include:
- supplies where the tutor has negligible interaction with the student because the tutoring method is based on self-learning exercises or activities (for example, games) that strengthen a variety of cognitive skills
- supplies where a program of tutoring provides a series of levels of attainment that every student must complete without consideration of the specific needs of the student in respect of any provincially recognized course offered by a school authority or a curriculum designated by a school authority
[CRA then provided an example of a private corporation (“Corporation A”) providing a course that involved children working through a progression of non-customized math workbooks at their own pace as not qualifying given that there was little assistance from the instructor and there was “no evidence of a relationship between the supply being made by Corporation A and a course approved for credit by, or that follows a curriculum designated by, a school authority.”]
Example of private driving school providing for-credit courses
Example 4
The Ministry of Education of the particular province has authorized school authorities to give 2 credits towards a secondary school certificate of graduation to students who take driving instruction from driving schools approved by the particular province.
Driving School A has been [so] approved … .
Driving School A provides driving instruction to individuals enrolled in a secondary school in the particular province and to individuals who are not enrolled in a secondary school in the particular province. The service of driving instruction provided to the individuals who are eligible to receive the 2 credits towards a certificate of graduation is exempt under paragraph 9(a) of Part III of Schedule V. The service of driving instruction provided to the individuals who are not enrolled in a secondary school in the particular province and who are not eligible to receive 2 credits towards a certificate of graduation is not exempt … .
[CRA provided a similar example (Example 3) respecting a High School authorizing jazz dance classes at a private Dance Academy.]
S. 9(c) - Example 7
[Example 7 involved a three-level ballet course, with only the third level recognized by a private school for a physical education credit, so that level 2 would qualify because it is a prerequisite to entering level 3, but level 1 would not qualify because it is merely a prerequisite to entering a prerequisite course (level 2).]
