CRA declines to follow Davis Dentistry, and treats all of a dentist’s supply in providing an artificial tooth as exempt rather than zero-rated

Regarding the supply by a dentist’s professional corporation of an artificial tooth (e.g., a denture, crown or bridge) to a patient, CRA applied the 2022 Tax Court (Informal Procedure) decision in Axelrod to find that “the predominant element of a supply made by a dentist to their patient, through a dental corporation, is their professional dental services and not the artificial tooth per se” so “that when a dentist provides artificial teeth in the course of rendering a dental treatment to an individual, the dentist is making a single supply of a dental treatment, which is a health care service.” Accordingly, no portion of such supply was zero-rated under ETA s. VI-II-11, which applies to “a supply of artificial teeth.”

CRA did not discuss the 2023 FCA decision in Kevin Davis Dentistry (which found, regarding the similar zero-rating under s. VI-II-11.1, for “a supply of an orthodontic appliance,” that “a supply of an orthodontic appliance is intended to be zero-rated even when accompanied by orthodontic services.”)

Neal Armstrong. Summary of 21 August 2024 GST/HST Ruling 174773 under ETA s. VI-II-11.