2021

Industrial hemp may not have the same effect as its flashier cousin cannabis, but it still contains enough of the active ingredient THC to put it under the auspices of Canada’s Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. Cyndee Todgham Cherniak explores some of the things importers of industrial hemp need to remember.

In May, the Canada Revenue Agency published its first guidance for cultivators, producers and packagers of cannabis products, as well as the application forms for excise duty licences and the cannabis excise stamping regime.

Canada is known as Hollywood North because many movies and television shows and commercials are filmed here. Everyone knows this – including the Government of Canada. That is why it is surprising that so little information is available to inform non-resident actors, actresses, performers, directors and producers about their obligations under Canada's GST/HST laws.

Robert G. Kreklewetz and Steven Raphael look at the case of ONEnergy Inc. v Canada, in which the Federal Court of Appeal resolves an apparent conflict in the Excise Tax Act over taxable supplies.

A residential property is often the largest single purchase that an individual or family will ever make. To help defray some of the cost of Canadian home ownership, a new housing rebate is available under subsection 254(2) of the Excise Tax Act to enable those who qualify to obtain a rebate of GST/HST paid on the purchase of a new residential property.

A team from Blakes looks at provisions in Quebec’s 2018 budget which will expand the scope of the province’s sales tax regime by requiring non-resident suppliers to collect and remit the QST under certain circumstance.

The Canada-EU Trade Agreement, which was provisionally implemented last fall, establishes a very different origin verification process than we’re used to under NAFTA. Cyndee Todgham-Cherniak takes us through the changes.

In Canada, most financial services are exempt from tax under the Excise Tax Act. This means that financial institutions cannot charge GST/HST and cannot claim input tax credits to recover the GST/HST that they have paid to provide these exempt financial services.

On Feb. 27, 2018, the Minister of Finance introduced Canada’s 2018 federal budget, which looks to implement the excise duty framework for cannabis that was proposed in November 2017. The duty will generally apply to all products available for legal purchase, which at the outset of legalization will include fresh and dried cannabis, cannabis oils, and seeds and seedlings for home cultivation.

On Feb. 27, 2018, the Liberal government’s third budget announced that the government would be going forward with amendments to the Excise Tax Act (Canada) that are intended to levy GST/HST on management and administrative services provided by a general partner to its investment limited partnership.