Government of Ontario HST Relief For Small Businesses

The Government of Ontario is offering a one-time relief payment for small businesses to help offset the cost to convert from RST to HST. Entitled the “Small Business Transition Credit”, these payments can range from $300 to $1,000 depending on your businesses taxable revenue.

Eligibility

To be eligible for the small business transition credit, a small business must:

• Not be a listed financial institution under the Excise Tax Act (Canada);
• Carry on business in Ontario and have been a GST/HST registrant on July 1, 2010;
• Make GST/HST taxable supplies (including zero-rated supplies) in the course of carrying on business;
• Have a premises in Ontario where it conducts its business; and
• Have taxable revenue of less than $2 million in a 12-month period.

The taxable revenue used to determine the level of payment is your fiscal reporting period ending after January 1, 2009.

Payments are expected to be sent in the fall of 2010.

More Information

For more information see the Government of Ontario’s Harmonized Sales Tax – Tax Tip 7. Also take a look at the Government of Ontario’s general HST Business Toolkit.