Tax & Trade Blog

The Competition Bureau (the “Bureau”) is asking for public feedback on how the recent Competition Act'greenwashing' amendments should be enforced.

The amendments, which came into effect June 24, 2024, add two new types of “reviewable conduct” covering representations made about products and/or business activities being beneficial for the environment.  Non-compliant businesses can face potentially serious penalties!

A Trusted Traveller Program Violation Card is a notification issued by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) or Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) when a member of a Trusted Traveller Program (like Global Entry, NEXUS, SENTRI, or TSA PreCheck) is found to have violated the program’s terms and conditions. This notice typically outlines the specific violation and the consequences, which can include suspension or revocation of membership.

Terms & Conditions of NEXUS Membership

Travellers receiving their NEXUS Membership are usually cautioned to obey the conditions of the Membership, although one wonders how many actually do!

As we wrote about previously, on May 27, 2023 the Canada Border Services Agency (the “CBSA”) proposed amendments to close what they termed “loopholes” allowing certain importers to use a lower value for duty (“VFD”) than what CBSA thought was appropriate. 

The draft changes to Canada’s Valuation for Duty Regulations (the “Regulations”) generated significant feedback from interested parties, but over one year later importers are left wondering about the status of the proposed amendments.

On September 13, 2024, the Canada Border Services Agency (“CBSA”) released a notice of its preliminary determination of dumping in respect of certain concrete reinforcing bar from Bulgaria, Thailand and the UAE (the “Subject Goods”).

Provisional duties are now imposed on imports of the Subject Goods released from the CBSA on or after September 13, 2024!

"Reverse and rebill" situations are very common in the Oil, Gas and Petrochem industry, especially in situations where goods are delivered in one reporting period but invoiced (or reversed and rebilled) in another reporting period because of formula-based pricing. There are a number of other situations where it is also necessary to "true-up" commercial invoice previously issued, and the GST/HST reporting and remittance requirements in these situations are counterintuitive.

Unwary businesses often face subsequent CRA assessments for taxes not collected, with the CRA taking the position that taxes were required to be collected on the issuance of both invoices unless proper credit note steps are taken.

With the new Canadian fuel charge provided for in the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act (the “GGPPA”), many Canadian and non-resident oil and gas companies doing business in Canada with fossil fuel products have now successfully registered. 

Now comes the unexpectedly difficult part: monthly reporting.

General Reporting Requirement

In general, the GGPPA imposes timely reporting requirements including monthly returns for most businesses that are not “road carriers”.  Most returns are due the last day of the calendar month (1) following a registrant’s reporting period OR (2) following the reporting period in which a charge became payable for non-registrants.

On September 9, 2024, the Canadian International Trade Tribunal (the “CITT”) issued a notice that it was beginning an expiry review in respect of certain Structural Tubing (also called Hollow Structural Sections) originating in or exported from the Republic of Korea and the Republic of Türkiye (the “Subject Goods”).  On September 10, 2024, the Canada Border Services Agency (the “CBSA”) similarly gave notice of the initiation of their parallel expiry review investigation.

More details on the technical definition of the Subject Goods can be found here.

As a firm specializing in International Trade and related regulatory issues, we have noticed a marked increase in recent inquiries regarding the new regulatory requirements for Nicotine Pouches.  This uptick coincides with Health Canada’s recent announcement effectively restricting the sale of Nicotine Replacement Therapies (“NRTs”), including Nicotine Pouches, to pharmacies – and the need to understand how comprehensive these apply to current business, and what options there are for moving forward.

Since the GST was first implemented in 1991, a continual source of misconception has been that the GST represents a single tax.  In fact, there are potentially four different applications of the GST – i.e., reflected in Divisions II through IV.1 of the Excise Tax Act (“ETA”). When combined with the provincial HST component, further permutations can occur.

A major source of work (because of mistakes made by Canadian residents and non-residents alike) has been the application of Divisions II and III of the ETA, which are reviewed here, and which can quite counterintuitively result in the application of both a 5% GST and up-to a 15% GST/HST on one single supply of goods.  Effectively, tax applying twice on a single transaction!

As we wrote in a previous blog post, the federal government amended subsections 256.2(3.1) and (3.2) of the Excise Tax Act (the “ETA”) to introduce an enhanced GST/HST residential rental property rebate applicable to new purpose-built rentals (the “Enhanced Rebate”), which took effect on September 14, 2023.

On July 17, 2024, the Real Property (GST/HST) Regulations (the “Regulations”) were published in the Canada Gazette, providing guidance on the implementation of the Enhanced Rebate, including the prescribed conditions and definitions of eligible properties.

Bill C-69, which received Royal Assent on June 20, 2024, contains various amendments to implement the federal government’s 2024 Budget.  In this blog, we discuss a small but important amendment:  supplies of certain face masks, respirators and face shields are no longer classified as zero-rated supplies!

Background – Zero-Rated Supplies

Section 165 of the Excise Tax Act (the “ETA”) generally imposes the GST/HST on recipients of taxable supplies made in Canada.  Zero-rated supplies are a subset of taxable supplies which are taxed at the rate of 0%.  Common examples of zero-rated supplies include basic groceries, prescription medications, and some medical devices.