Tax & Trade Blog

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GST/HST REVERSE CHARGE SYSTEMS

SENIOR FINANCE OFFICIALS SEEM TO CONFIRM MORE ON THE HORIZON

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Mid-summer, the Department of Finance released important new draft legislation, putting in place a “reverse charge system” to deal with fraud in the Telecom industry. More recently – at the Canadian Tax Foundation’s Inaugural Commodity Tax Symposium – senior officials seemed to have suggested that more could be coming to deal with similar issues in other industries.

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REGISTERED BUT NOT REGISTERED!

CRA BUSINESS NUMBER TRAP: ACCOUNTS ASSIGNED DURING AUDIT NOT ENOUGH

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When the Canada Revenue Agency ("CRA") assesses an individual for unremitted GST/HST on a real property transaction, the agency typically creates an administrative business number to process the assessment. Many taxpayers assume that once the CRA opens this account and assesses tax, the taxpayer is officially GST "registered" and entitled to claim offsetting Input Tax Credits ("ITCs") on related expenses, for example real estate commissions.

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NO EXCUSE FOR MISSED CRA PORTAL ALERTS

TCC CONFIRMS BUSINESS CARRIES ALL THE RISK WHEN DIGITAL PORTALS IGNORED

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A recent Tax Court of Canada (“TCC”) case highlights the harsh consequences of failing to monitor an online Canada Revenue Agency (“CRA”) portal, like MyCRA or My Business Account. In Web Listings Inc. v. His Majesty the King, 2026 TCC 101 (“Web Listings”), the TCC confirmed that if a business’s authorized representative receives online portal notifications and ignores them, the tax consequences for the business are severe.

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CRA ASSESSING DIRECTORS FOR GST MORE OFTEN

SIMILAR SURGE IN ASSESSING THIRD-PARTY TRANSFEREES, INCLUDING SHAREHOLDERS

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Most business owners assume a corporation’s debts belong to the corporation. For unpaid GST/HST, that assumption is often wrong.

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HOUSE FLIPPING & BRIEF OCCUPANCY

TCC FINDS TWO RENOVATED HOMES HELD AS INVENTORY – NOT RESIDENCES

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As we have noted before (here and here), the Canada Revenue Agency (“CRA”) continues to audit residential homeowners who build or substantially renovate homes for resale, regularly assessing them as “builders” liable to pay GST/HST.