Toronto Chapter hosts annual Commodity Tax Day.

• Position: Chapter News

TEI's Toronto Chapter hosted its annual Commodity Tax Day on January 20. The program, held at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel, attracted more than 90 registrants, and was coordinated by Carol Nixon from Lanxess Inc. and Paul Revell from Raytheon Canada Inc., both board members of the Toronto Chapter.

The event began with an informative session led by the Canadian Commodity Tax Committee, which provided members with insights into technical issues discussed at the Institute's December liaison meetings with the Canada Revenue Agency and the Department of Finance. This session was followed by an update from Danielle Zion who is the Director for the Harmonized Sales Tax Returns and Rebates Processing Division with CRA Headquarters in Ottawa.

The harmonization of sales tax in British Columbia and Ontario combined with the major overhauls made by the Federal and Quebec governments in the "place of supply" rules are causing a fair amount of confusion among companies, practitioners, and the governments. Cathy Kuhrt of Grant Thornton examined the various issues, opportunities, and pitfalls during an excellent presentation.

With sales tax harmonization, many pension plan sponsors face the challenge of dealing with financial institution rules along with the allocation, recovery, rebate, compliance, and reporting requirements. Dave Schlesinger of KPMG made a great presentation on how the HST affects pension plans and what plan sponsors need to focus on.

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