Information Notice
65
Published: June 2008
Content last reviewed: August 2010
ISBN:
978-1-4249-6900-5 (Print), 978-1-4249-6902-9 (PDF), 978-1-4249-6901-2 (HTML)
Notice to the reader: For Retail Sales Tax (RST) – On July 1, 2010 the 13 per cent Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) took effect in Ontario replacing the existing provincial Retail Sales Tax (RST) and combining it with the federal Goods and Services Tax (GST). As a result, RST provisions described on this page and in other publications ended on June 30, 2010.
Effective July 1, 2010 this publication was archived for RST purposes only. Use caution when you refer to it, since it reflects the law in force for RST at the time it was released and may no longer apply.
- Bill 44, the Budget Measures and Interim Appropriation Act, 2008, containing a number of measures relating to the Retail Sales Tax (RST) Act that were announced in the 2008 Ontario Budget, was passed in the Legislature and received Royal Assent on May 14, 2008. The measures confirm the ministry's longstanding tax treatment of returnable containers.
Returnable containers
The definition of 'returnable container' in the RST Act has been re-enacted to include tangible personal property used in the packaging, storage or shipping of goods and that is intended to be returned, directly or indirectly, to a person for reuse in the packaging, storage or shipping of goods. Returnable containers may include boxes, bottles, drums, pallets, etc.
The amended definition is effective as of May 7, 1997. This legislative amendment confirms Ontario's longstanding requirement for persons to pay RST on purchases, including rentals and leases, of containers and other packaging, storage and shipping items that are intended to be returned for reuse in the packaging, storage or shipping of goods.
Promotional Items
The RST Act has also been amended to confirm the longstanding requirement for persons to pay RST on tangible personal property that is provided by way of a promotional distribution. Items, such as product displays, provided free of charge by manufacturers to retailers to promote the sale of the manufacturer's product are taxable to the manufacturer as a promotional distribution.
Non-returnable containers
Non-returnable product packaging, including cartons containing packaged products that are sold to retailers, remains non-taxable, whether or not advertising is printed on the packaging.
For more information
For more information on these changes, please contact the Retail Sales Tax Section of the Tax Advisory Services Branch at the Ontario Ministry of Finance by calling 905 433-6313 or 1 888 285-7815 (ext. 17052).
