In the 2008 Ontario Budget, the government announced that the exemption for qualifying non-prescription nicotine replacement therapies would be made permanent and would be extended to those products that have been assigned a Natural Product Number by Health Canada. Bill 44, Budget Measures and Interim Appropriation Act, 2008, received Royal Assent on May 14, 2008.

RST Information Notice, July 2007

• This Notice explains the announced temporary point-of-sale Retail Sales Tax (RST) exemption for nicotine replacement therapies sold after August 12, 2007 and before August 13, 2008.

Context

The Government of Ontario supports the use of nicotine replacement therapies as a way of encouraging the reduction of tobacco consumption in the province.

Exempt Products

Nicotine replacement therapies that are not prescribed by a physician are currently taxable as non-prescription medications. Nicotine replacement therapies come in a variety of delivery mechanisms, including transdermal patches, gums, lozenges, inhalers, sprays and sublingual tablets.

Effective August 13, 2007, non-prescription nicotine replacement therapies that have been assigned a drug identification number by the federal government and that are sold for the sole purpose of assisting the purchaser to stop smoking tobacco will be exempt from RST at the point of sale. This temporary exemption will cover all sales of nicotine replacement therapies made over the counter after August 12, 2007 and before August 13, 2008.

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, call 1 866 ONT-TAXS (1 866 668-8297), teletypewriter (TTY) 1 800 263-7776, or visit our website at www.ontario.ca/revenue.

© Queen's Printer for Ontario, 2007

ISBN 978-1-4249-4932-8