With the implementation date of the HST now in effect, be sure to check out the following list of web resources to learn more about the new Harmonized Sales Tax and how it will affect you and your business.
BC GOVERNMENT

Consumer Taxes Section
Harmonized Sales Tax, Creating Jobs, Lowering Prices

CANADA REVENUE AGENCY

Goods & Services Tax / Harmonized [...]

For meal expenses, the simplified rate is unchanged from 2008, a flat rate of $17 a meal or $51 per day, per person is allowed without receipts. If you choose the detailed method, you must keep your receipts.
For the simplified method of claiming vehicle expenses for trips relating to the northern residents deduction, moving expenses [...]

To encourage investment by businesses in computer systems and related peripherals, the Income Tax Regulations were amended on May 13, 2009 to add new Class 52 to Schedule II with a 100-per-cent tax depreciation rate for eligible computers and software acquired after January 27, 2009 and before February 2011.
Visit the CRA web site for more [...]

Canada Revenue Agency
Bulletin B-103: Place of Supply Rules for Determining Whether a Supply is Made in a Province.
The Tax Detective
We also recommend checking out Eileen Reppenhagen’s web site, the Tax Detective. Eileen’s site includes links to a wealth of bulletins, articles and other information related to HST.
Fraser Institute – Countering the Myths Surrounding HST
The Fraser [...]

Administrative Policy Changes for Taxable Employment Benefits to reduce a number of administrative difficulties and increase fairness include:

Overtime Meals and Allowances Provided to Employees
Municipality or Metropolitan Area
Loyalty Programs
Employer Provided Motor Vehicles Required to be Taken Home at Night
Non-cash Gifts and Non-cash Awards
Surface Transit Passes Provided to Family Members of Transit Employees

Read the full article on [...]

CRA has compiled a list of notices and bulletins with regards to GST/HST. The list includes information sheets on transitional rules, along with question and answer bulletins for specific areas of concern.
Download the bulletin list in PDF format from the Curriculum Services Canada web site.

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Curriculum Services Canada has posted a PDF of a a webinar presentation given by the Canada Revenue Agency to help give business owners an overview of the upcoming implementation of HST (Harmonized Sales Tax) in BC and Ontario. The presentation covers many areas of confusion and concern and is a good primer on what you [...]

We read an interesting blog post written by the kind folks at the Your Business Today site, run by CompuMax. They had several questions about how to accurately incorporate the new HST regulations when billing their clients in the upcoming months. A CRA agent at the HST Answer Line clarified their questions, which may be [...]

BIV has written an interesting article that underscores the uncertainty that most business owners have around the impending HST that will be going into effect soon.  Here’s a snippet of the article:
Almost half of all business owners don’t fully understand how HST will impact their businesses, according to an Angus Reid opinion poll.
An online survey [...]

Small-business owners who procrastinate or fail to prepare in May for the 12% HST in July risk a host of negative consequences.
Nasty surprises include cash crunches or government penalties for doing things wrong, said certified general accountant Eileen Reppenhagen.
“You can’t just switch July 1,” said Reppenhagen, who created the tax tip website Taxdetective.ca.
“From May 1, [...]

HST is still a bit of a mystery to a lot of small business owners. To help clarify the subject for local entrepreneurs, SOHO is hosting a seminar on HST in Vancouver on March 10th, 2010 at 4:30pm at the Circa Lounge on Granville Street.
Experts from Intuit will be presenting the seminar and answering questions [...]

The RRSP season is clearly heating up.
With the March 1 contribution deadline for registered retirement savings plans less than a month away, three of Canada’s big banks released surveys on Thursday, not-so-gently reminding Canadians of the pressing need to start saving for their golden years right now.
A Bank of Nova Scotia study found that 73 [...]

Front-line small businesses concerned as Ontario, B.C. fold provincial sales tax into federal one this summer.
Grant Clark thinks he’s the kind of business owner Ontario wasn’t thinking of when it developed plans for the new, harmonized sales tax.
Mr. Clark is president of Solutions for HR Inc., a small consulting shop he’s operated for the past [...]

The House of Commons on Wednesday overwhelmingly passed legislation enabling the provinces to harmonize their sales taxes with the federal GST, clearing the way for Ontario and British Columbia to implement the HST this summer.
The federal HST bill passed by a vote of 253-37. Only the NDP opposed the legislation.
Both Ontario and B.C. plan to [...]

British Columbians support ways to mitigate the impact of the HST on the province’s restaurant and food services sector, according to a new poll by the B.C. Restaurants and Foodservices Association.
The survey found 63% of British Columbians strongly oppose the HST, 64% favour exempting food in restaurants if HST proceeds and 64% of respondents favour [...]