The federal government has announced that there will be a tax break from December 14th, 2024 to February 15th, 2025 on a broad range of consumer products, which is estimated will provide $1.6 billion in federal tax relief.
In addition to relieving the 5% GST, the HST component will be also fully removed in Ontario, Newfoundland & Labrador, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island.
Along the same lines as federal initiatives to target the resale of renovated homes held for short periods of time through assessments, which we have blogged about here, the government of British Columbia is now introducing a new tax on profits from sales of residential property in B.C. owned for less than two years!
Starting January 1, 2025, the new so-called “Home Flipping Tax” under the Residential Property (Short-Term Holding) Profit Tax Act, (the “Act”) will apply to residential properties sold within 730 days of purchase, with certain important exceptions. The tax is part of the B.C. government’s broader strategy to improve housing affordability in the province by discouraging short-term holding of property for profit.
Those active in B.C.’s residential real estate market should take note!
In yet another interesting legal battle involving Uber, the Ontario Court of Appeal has confirmed that even when a party overpaid on GST/HST, there is no right to recover that tax from the person or company that charged that tax.
This means the only redress is through the refund or rebate provisions in the Excise Tax Act (“ETA”).
One thing that usually goes undiscussed when contemplating appeals to the Tax Court of Canada (“TCC”) is what happens if a taxpayer loses.
One thing that CAN happen is a “costs award” against the taxpayer, which is where a TCC judge orders the taxpayer to pay a portion of the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) costs in defending the appeal – which puts a significant premium on understanding one’s “chances of success” BEFORE filing the appeal!
Unexpected Costs
As we have previously written about here, the CRA has been modernizing its electronic services. As part of these changes, the CRA has updated the GST/HST e-filing returns to require additional lines of detail. Businesses e-filing their GST/HST returns need to understand this new change and complete their GST/HST e-filing returns properly!
As of May 13, 2024, registrants e-filing their GST/HST returns have been encountering the new forms, and the CRA reminded registrants of the change in its Excise GST/HST News – No. 117.
Those who previously filed paper returns will immediately recognize these additional details as lines from the paper returns which have now been migrated over to the e-filing system.
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