RST Guide 800, April 2006

• The information in this Guide explains how Retail Sales Tax (RST) applies to items purchased by persons engaged in the business of trapping and fishing. Please note that this Guide replaces the previous version dated March 2001.

Trappers

Under the Retail Sales Tax Act only specific types of equipment can be purchased exempt from RST by a person who is licensed by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) under the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act to trap fur bearing animals. Under Schedule 1 of the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act, fur-bearing animal means a(n):

• badger
• beaver
• bobcat
• coyote
• fisher
• fox (arctic, gray, red)
• lynx
• marten
• mink
• muskrat
• opossum
• otter
• raccoon
• skunk (striped)
• squirrel (red)
• weasel (least, long-tailed, short-tailed)
• wolf

Exempt Equipment

Examples of exempt equipment include:

• fish nets
• fur stretchers
• skinning knives
• snares and snare wire
• snow shoes
• steel traps of all makes.

Repairs of these items are also exempt. When claiming an exemption, trappers must provide suppliers with a valid Purchase Exemption Certificate and must state their MNR trapper's licence number on these certificates.

Taxable Equipment

Examples of taxable equipment include:

• axes
• canoes
• compasses
• fish lines
• guns and ammunition
• knives (except skinning)
• motorized sleds
• outboard motors
• skis
• sleds and sled dogs
• sleighs
• snowmobiles
• tents
• toboggans.

Persons Engaged in the Business of Fishing

A person engaged in the business of fishing means a person who undertakes fishing with a reasonable expectation of profit. Fishing means fishing within the meaning of section 248 of the Income Tax Act (Canada).

Exemptions

Boats, fishing nets and other fishing apparatus used to catch fish for human consumption can be purchased exempt from Retail Sales Tax by a person engaged in the business of fishing for use solely in that trade.

The exemption is available to a person engaged in the business of fishing who catches fish for human consumption only. The exemption cannot be extended to a person who catches fish for purposes other than human consumption, such as a person engaged in catching minnows and selling them as bait to sport-fishermen, or someone who catches fish for animal consumption. The exemption is also not available to sport-fishermen of any kind (i.e., whether professional or non-professional) or recreational fishermen.

To claim an exemption, a person engaged in the business of fishing must provide suppliers with a valid Purchase Exemption Certificate stating that the items purchased will be used exclusively in the course of the fishing business.

Exempt Boats and Associated Equipment

Examples of exempt boats and associated equipment are:

• anchors and chains
• barometers
• blocks, chocks and turnbuckles
• boat bailers (hand bailers)
• boats and scows
• bolts (when part of a boat)
• charts and tide tables
• depth sounders
• direction finders
• engines for boats (tanks, propeller, power take off, shaft, stuffing box, reduction gear)
• ice making machines producing ice to refrigerate the catch
• links and shackles for anchor
• navigation lights and port lights (boat window)
• paint (if used for boat)
• pumps, gear and galley, for water and fuel
• radio and radio equipment
• radio telephones (ship to shore)
• repairs to exempt boats
• rope and wire cable (if used on boat or net)
• sails, oars and row locks
• seam fillers
• signal bells and horns
• steering wheels
• tarpaulins and hatch covers
• ventilators
• wood, iron, etc., when part of fish trap.

Exempt Fishing Gear

Examples of exempt fishing gear include:

• buoys (to indicate location of nets)
• burlap net covers (to cover nets when not in use)
• fish hooks, gaffs and jigs
• fish nets and netting, fish lines
• net dye
• repairs to exempt fishing gear
• otter trawl leather (part of net)
• sinkers
• trolling springs and swivels (part of line)
• winch (gurdies).

Taxable Equipment

Examples of taxable equipment include:

• motorized toboggans
• snowmobiles
• snowplanes.

Legislative References

• Retail Sales Tax Act, Paragraphs 7(1)(54) and 7(1)(29)
• Regulation 1012 under the Act, Section 1
• Regulation 1013 under the Act, Section 1 and Subsection 3(2)

For More Information

The information contained in this publication is only a guideline. For more information, please contact the Ontario Ministry of Revenue at 1 866 ONT-TAXS (1 866 668-8297) or visit our website at ontario.ca/revenue.

© Queen's Printer for Ontario, 2006

ISBN 1-4249-0886-8