What do businesses have to do right now to get ready?
To help your business prepare for the HST, general transitional rules for the HST are available. Additional transitional rules have also been released for new housing.
Will the government provide businesses with assistance to transition to the HST?
To support small businesses, Ontario will provide up to a total of $400 million in one-time transition assistance to small business in the form of transition support.
Most businesses, other than financial institutions, with less than $2 million in annual revenue from taxable sales, will be eligible for the Small Business Transition Credit of up to $1,000.
Will I have to register to collect the HST?
Businesses that are registered for GST will be required to collect the HST.
To reduce the administrative burden for small businesses, Ontario will parallel the federal small supplier threshold. In general, businesses with sales under the threshold will not be required to register and collect tax.
Small suppliers that choose not to register will not be required to file a tax return and will not be eligible to claim input tax credits. If a small supplier chooses to register, it will be eligible to claim input tax credits related to its taxable supplies when it files its tax return.
