HST Filings

youngtea

Active Member
10
I am doing my taxes for 2015 and I owe over $10,000 for HST last year.

As you all know GST/HST is charged to the customer for all intra canada shipments if you are the final carrier. I'm a broker so none my carriers charge me taxes, but I charged my customers based on the tax regulations.

Is it typically like this for brokers in terms of HST payments?
 

AccountsReceivable@DRC

Moderator
Staff member
30
GST/HST payments are normally done on a monthly basis UNLESS your revenue is under a certain dollar amount and/or other arrangements have been made to remit yearly.

You noted charging GST/HST to YOUR customers - assuming these are non transport customers - then you would have collected quite a bit of tax for an entire calendar year. Compared to previous years - is this $10K amount close to what you have previously remitted?

If not - I would go back and review all of the GST/HST you have PAID throughout the year and make sure you have captured all tax paid out. It will be time consuming to do so - yes. Which is why remitting monthly might be something you should consider doing. Then if there are any inconsistencies in tax figures - you only need to review a month's worth of entries and not an entire year.
 

youngtea

Active Member
10
GST/HST payments are normally done on a monthly basis UNLESS your revenue is under a certain dollar amount and/or other arrangements have been made to remit yearly.

You noted charging GST/HST to YOUR customers - assuming these are non transport customers - then you would have collected quite a bit of tax for an entire calendar year. Compared to previous years - is this $10K amount close to what you have previously remitted?

If not - I would go back and review all of the GST/HST you have PAID throughout the year and make sure you have captured all tax paid out. It will be time consuming to do so - yes. Which is why remitting monthly might be something you should consider doing. Then if there are any inconsistencies in tax figures - you only need to review a month's worth of entries and not an entire year.

Last year was my first full year and we were doing taxes yearly. We have now changed to quarterly.

I am wondering if it's typical for a broker to be paying a lot of HST.

Thanks for your help.
 

Northam

Member
2
You might as well ask if it is typical for the corner variety store or local car dealership or....any business collects and pays HST. The amount is dependant on any number of factors, not the least of which is your total billing for intra-Canadian shipments. A ballpark guess based on your 10K bill with 1/2 of your billings being in Canada suggests a yearly revenue of around 200K.
 
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htcollections

Suspended Member
10
I know many carriers that never pay HST, as they interline. It is not legal to charge HST if you are inter lining, but you are still entitled to legitimate ITCs. As a broker, you should not be charging HST at all, if interlining. Refer to Canada Revenue Agency re. Interlining. for additional information.
 

htcollections

Suspended Member
10
Northam. You can't possibly be sure of any calculation as he would also have various ITCs. The simple way to calculate HST owed is add up the totla HST received, minus the total HST you paid. You must ensure you have proper documentation for the Itcs and verify the HST numbers, which you can do online. Important to verify the company name, the date and the HST number. All must be accurate. Also, regarding business meals, you are only entitled to half the hst if business. There are also limitation on vehicle HST amounts.
 

loaders

Site Supporter
30
Youngtea, also ensure that the HST amount you are charging your customer is based on the Provincial rate of the final destination, regardless of where your customer is domiciled. Each Province has a different rate, some a bit lower, some a bit higher.
 

MADBOOKER

Active Member
10
And Yes, as a broker, you are responsible for collecting all GST-HST from your customers.
NO carrier should be charging you any taxes on domestic shipments.
Also the amount you pay will greatly depend on the lanes you service within Canada.
I'm assuming that you don't do many cross Canada shipments with a total bill of 10 000 per year.
 

htcollections

Suspended Member
10
Madbooker. I would somewhat disagree. brokers are only responsible to collect GST if invoicing the end customer. ex a manufacturer, etc. But if the broker is billing another broker, carrier, etc, and this forms part of an interline transport move, it is not lawful to charge GST. Gst is also charged at the provincial rate, where the delivery is being made.
 

SCAM CHASER

Site Supporter
20
I guess I will put my two cents worth in. Several posters have used the term "unlawful" . This is my understanding, subject to any other posters' input:

[1] Everything you invoice to your customers attracts HST/GST.

[2] As previously stated, the rate is determined by the provincial HST/GST rate of the province into where the freight is being delivered

[3] Cross border shipments are zero-rated, not exempt. The revenue from your cross-border shipments must be included in your reported sales. If billed in USD, use the Bank of Canada exchange rate for the last day of the month.

[4] Payments between transportation companies (including carriers, load brokers, 3PLs) again are zero-rated, not exempt) This is what has been referred to as the interlining provisions of the legislation. The Government now clarifies "carrier" as a person who supplies freight transportation services, whether that person actually supplies the freight transportation service.

Here's the link to the official government booklet on the subject - if you have not read it before, now's a good time to do so.

http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pub/gp/rc4080/rc4080-13e.pdf
 

MarkD

Site Supporter
15
Madbooker. I would somewhat disagree. brokers are only responsible to collect GST if invoicing the end customer. ex a manufacturer, etc. But if the broker is billing another broker, carrier, etc, and this forms part of an interline transport move, it is not lawful to charge GST. Gst is also charged at the provincial rate, where the delivery is being made.
 

MarkD

Site Supporter
15
So am I to understand the 5-14% in federal and provincial taxes the poster of this thread is charging his customers is in fact not his tip for having a phone connected and an email address and in fact he needs to remit those funds to the government? That's outlandish! Thanks Trudeau.
 

SCAM CHASER

Site Supporter
20
"it is not lawful to charge GST" is an erroneous statement - you charge it but at zero-rate. I know the booklet I provided the link to is 18 pages long, but it contains all the correct answers.
 

htcollections

Suspended Member
10
"it is not lawful to charge GST" is an erroneous statement - you charge it but at zero-rate. I know the booklet I provided the link to is 18 pages long, but it contains all the correct answers.
I think we are talking the same thing here...the point is , tax should not be collected if deemed as an interline transport.
 

martinetav

Well-Known Member
20
So am I to understand the 5-14% in federal and provincial taxes the poster of this thread is charging his customers is in fact not his tip for having a phone connected and an email address and in fact he needs to remit those funds to the government? That's outlandish! Thanks Trudeau.
that belongs to Harper...
 
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