Major classifications/variables

• Fiscal year - The fiscal year is the 12-month period beginning on April 1 and ending on March 31 of the following calendar year. All numbers and amounts are associated with a fiscal year based on the date CRA receive Form GST34 from registrants.
  
  
• Province or territory Distributions by province or territory are based on the province or territory in the GST/HST registrants' mailing addresses when they filed their GST/HST returns.
  
  
• Tax services office (TSO) - Distributions by TSO are based on the TSO associated with the most recent address of the GST/HST registrant. The TSO is the location where the registrant's GST34 forms are processed.
  
  
• Major Industry Group - Distributions by industry group are based on the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) coding system with the registrant's most recent industry code being assigned. Industry codes are based on the major business activity reported by the GST/HST registrant.
  
  
• Filing frequency - Distributions by filing frequency are based on the most recent filing frequency in effect for the GST/HST registrant. A registrant can be assigned one of seven different filing frequencies based on annual taxable income and net tax remittable.
  • Monthly - This is the assigned filing frequency for registrants with annual taxable sales more than $6,000,000. It is optional for all other registrants.
  • Quarterly - This is for registrants with annual taxable sales of more than $500,000 up to $6,000,000. It is optional for all registrants with sales of $500,000 or less.
  • Annual/Quarterly remittance - This is assigned to registrants who choose an annual filing frequency and who make quarterly instalment payments.
  • Annual/Annual Remittance - This is the assigned filing frequency for registrants who have annual taxable sales of $500,000 or less and have less than $1,500 of net tax remittable to submit with their yearly GST/HST return.
  • Annual/Quarterly Remittance Extended - This is the assigned filing frequency for registrants who file once a year in June but remit quarterly payments, the last being due in April.
  • Annual/Annual Remittance Extended - This is the filing frequency assigned to registrants who file once a year before June 17 but have remittances due in April.
  • Not Stated - This category of filing frequency is used for registrants whose filing frequency is unknown during the reporting period.
    
    
• Accounting method - Distributions by accounting method are based on the most recent accounting methods used by the GST/HST registrants. There are two categories of accounting methods. Registrants can elect to use one of the two methods when filing:
  • Simplified - With this method, the registrant does not have to separate the amount of GST/HST payable on each invoice. Instead, the registrant only has to track the total amount of taxable purchases for which they are entitled to claim input tax credits. They will, however, have to separate their purchases into those that are taxable at the 7% GST rate or the 15% HST rate.
  • Not Simplified - All other GST/HST registrants who have not elected to use the simplified method of accounting.

  For more information on the simplified method, see the guide called General Information for GST/HST Registrants.

• Legal entity status - These statistics are based on the most recent legal entity status of GST/HST registrants. Below is the list of the five different legal entity status categories used to report statistics.
  • Sole proprietors - Individuals who are self?employed and who report the revenue from their business on their income tax return.
  • Partnership - Two or more persons (individuals, corporations, trusts) that are in business together and that report the revenue from that business on their income tax return.
  • Corporation - An entity that is incorporated through a provincial or federal body, and that has the associated articles of incorporation. This can include societies incorporated under the Societies Act.
  • Other - This category applies to trusts, unions, clubs, and associations that do not meet the most common definitions of sole proprietor, partnership, or corporation.
  • Unknown - This category is used for internal administrative processes to categorize payments and GST/HST returns for which, when the data was processed, it was not possible to determine legal entity for reasons such as the client could not be contacted or the type of business was not known.
    
    
• Sales range - The sales ranges are based on the total amount of sales of goods and services, including zero?rated sales and other revenues reported on line 101of Form GST34, filed during the reporting period by the GST/HST registrants.
  
  
• Monthly statistics - We use the month of the date we receive Form GST34 to compile the monthly statistics.
  
  

Date modified:

2004-04-28