RST Information Notice, October 2006
- On October 18, 2006, the Ontario Government introduced Bill 151, Budget Measures Act, 2006 (No. 2). This bill includes proposed amendments to the Retail Sales Tax Act (Act). The legislation must be passed by the Legislature and receive Royal Assent to become law.
Insurance – Definition of Premium
Under the Retail Sales Tax Act, the planholder of a funded benefits plan is currently required to pay tax in respect of premiums paid by the planholder into the plan. The proposed definition of "premium" would include any amounts paid by the planholder to an administrator, and exclude amounts that, when paid out to employees (i.e., as disability benefits), would be included in the total Ontario remuneration of the planholder under the Employer Health Tax Act. This treatment parallels the treatment of these amounts in respect of unfunded benefits plans.
Insurance – Designation of benefits plan
The proposed amendments to the Act specify that planholders who establish new benefits plans will be required to designate whether the plans are funded or unfunded. This designation applies until the planholder advises the minister of a change to the plan.
Insurance - Transitional
A planholder of a benefits plan that was established before the day the proposed amendments come into force shall notify the minister whether the benefits plan was established as a funded benefits plan or an unfunded benefits plan. For the purposes of the Act, the designation shall apply from the day the plan was established until the planholder advises the minister of any change to the benefits plan.
Magazines
The proposed amendments to the Act will provide the minister with authority to set out circumstances under which magazines may be acquired exempt from RST.
Extension – Filing a Notice of Appeal
This proposed amendment to the Act clarifies that the minister may extend the time to commence an appeal under the Act if an application for the extension is made before the expiry of the time limit for instituting the appeal (90 days).
For More Information
For more information, please contact the nearest Ontario Ministry of Revenue Tax Office listed under Taxes - Provincial (Retail) Sales Tax in the blue pages of your telephone directory, or visit our website at ontario.ca/revenue
© Queen's Printer for Ontario, 2006
ISBN 1-4249-2485-5
