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All about Bookkeeping
Mar 12, 2019 1:16 AM UTC
Solved

When to use Sales Tax "E" Exempt vs "Z" Zero Rated Tax

There are several transactions I'm unclear which Sales Tax Code should be used.  1) Preparing customer invoice with no sales tax - grant funding.

2) Meals - breaking out the meal - food portion with 13% tax and tip with not tax.

3) Banking Fees, not tax

4) Cash Payment on honorariums

Please help.

Atlanticrock1Answer
Mar 12, 2019 1:16 AM UTC

You need to understand that there is a difference between Zero Rated and Exempt.

Zero Rated are goods and services that basically are taxable, but the legislator decided to rate it at a "0" rate (for now). Whenever the government feels the need to collect more money, they can rate the zero rated goods or services at the rate they want.

Exempt means that goods or services are not taxable.

A grant is an exempt item.

The tip on the restaurant bill is an exempt item.

Bank fees are exempt items.

Cash payment on honorariums, is not exempt nor zero rated. Honorariums basically are taxable, and the entity or person who collects the honorariums must issue an invoice. It will include HST if the entity is HST registered. The payment method is irrelevant of the tax. If you pay cash, by cheque or credit card is not related to the tax.

Hope this helps.

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7 replies

Atlanticrock1Answer
Mar 12, 2019 1:16 AM UTC

You need to understand that there is a difference between Zero Rated and Exempt.

Zero Rated are goods and services that basically are taxable, but the legislator decided to rate it at a "0" rate (for now). Whenever the government feels the need to collect more money, they can rate the zero rated goods or services at the rate they want.

Exempt means that goods or services are not taxable.

A grant is an exempt item.

The tip on the restaurant bill is an exempt item.

Bank fees are exempt items.

Cash payment on honorariums, is not exempt nor zero rated. Honorariums basically are taxable, and the entity or person who collects the honorariums must issue an invoice. It will include HST if the entity is HST registered. The payment method is irrelevant of the tax. If you pay cash, by cheque or credit card is not related to the tax.

Hope this helps.

    All about BookkeepingAuthor
    Mar 12, 2019 1:16 AM UTC
    YES!  Thank you so much atlanticrock! When I add "E" to the transactions mentioned, they do not appear on my sales tax liability report and I use QBD generated report to transmit to CRA.  My concern is the QB report is not accurate, it does not include the revenue and expenses that are exempt coded.
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