'It's a giant mess': Confusion remains about the GST/HST holiday

Tax holiday heading into 2025 Some eastern Ontario businesses are seeing a spike in business as the federal government's tax holiday continues. Jack Richardson reports.

The organization representing small and medium size businesses in Canada says the start to the GST and HST holiday has been “a giant mess.”

“It has been a very messy start to the GST/HST holiday across the country. A lot of merchants aren't sure whether this is mandatory, whether this is something they're even able to do. They're trying to field consumer questions. It’s a giant mess,” said Dan Kelly, chief executive officer of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.

Kelly said he had been speaking with officials in Ottawa — both at CRA and finance — to seek clarity and pass that along to business owners.

“It's legislated. It is supposed to be mandatory, but the but basically, the government —CRA and finance — are saying, ‘We're not planning to rigidly enforce this. So do your best,’” said Kelly.

Amber Hagans, the director of operations at Toymasters in Brandon, Manitoba, points out that Lego has been a big issue.

“I've actually lost some Lego sales over it because people are trying to purchase Lego sets, such as the Christmas wreath, and this is an 18+ set,” Hagans said, picking the item up during an interview.

Online, Ottawa indicates that GST/HST holiday only applies to certain toys intended for children under 14.

“We've had many arguments at the till over that. It has brought some of my staff to tears, which I just don't think is fair, especially at this time of year,” said Hagans.

The business owner notes she doesn’t blame the frustrated customers who didn’t understand the rule.

“We need to be making the public more aware of the fact that in our industry, especially in the toy and game industry, there are a lot of different classifications in what is exempt and what isn't,” said Hagans.

When Vicky Hui from Toronto was out eating over the weekend, she said she was charged for HST at a restaurant even though the establishment was not supposed be collecting it.

“My case was not handled well because my complaint was not handled in a professional manner,” Hui told CTV News Toronto. “The waitress was not aware of the policy and the manager jumped to a conclusion quickly.”

Hui said the next day she complained to the restaurant who agreed a mistake was made and she was refunded along with a $75 dollar gift card.

A spokesperson with the CRA said businesses should not charge GST/HST on qualifying goods and services.

“Where a business continues to charge an amount and indicates to their customers that tax has been charged, then the business is required to account for and remit any GST/HST collected on those sales as per the normal rules when completing their GST/HST returns,” said Benoit Sabourin, noting that there are penalties for gross negligence for non-compliance.

“This is for situations where businesses knowingly did not collect tax or collected tax but did not remit the tax.”

With files from CTV News Toronto’s Pat Foran