Policy Forum: Carrying On About Carrying On Business: A Response to "The GST/HST Obligations of Non-Resident E-Commerce Firms"

Zvi Halpern-Shavim ()
Additional contact information
Zvi Halpern-Shavim: Blake Cassels & Graydon LLP, Toronto

Canadian Tax Journal, 2020, vol. 68, issue 4, 1053-1067

Abstract: Non-resident suppliers of digital products and services are not required to collect and remit goods and services tax (GST)/harmonized sales tax (HST) if they are not "carrying on business" in Canada. The term "carrying on business" in Canada is not defined in the legislation. Leaving aside policy arguments in favour of, or against, requiring such non-resident suppliers without a physical presence in Canada to register, the author of this article considers whether the current legal framework should be reinterpreted to require such suppliers to become registered for GST/HST on the basis of a purely digital presence. He addresses these issues by considering the textual, contextual, and purposive meaning of the term "carrying on business" (and its permutations) in the Excise Tax Act (Canada) (ETA). He concludes that while developments in other areas of law, such as conflict-of-laws jurisprudence, may expand the common-law meaning of "carrying on business" in a jurisdiction to include having a purely digital presence, the interpretive framework particular for tax statutes in Canada, and the specific use of the term in the ETA itself, lead to the conclusion that a specific change in law would be the more appropriate way to impose registration and collection obligations on such non-resident suppliers.

Keywords: GST; electronic commerce; non-residents; carrying on business; digital; registration (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.ctf.ca/EN/Publications/CTJ_Contents/2020CTJ4.aspx (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ctf:journl:v:68:y:2020:i:4:p:1053-1067

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
Canadian Tax Foundation, 145 Wellington Street West, Suite 1400, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5J 1H8
https://www.ctf.ca/E ... ns_ListingBooks.aspx

DOI: 10.32721/ctj.2020.68.4.pf.halpern-shavim

Access Statistics for this article

Canadian Tax Journal is currently edited by Kim Brooks, Kevin Milligan, and Daniel Sandler

More articles in Canadian Tax Journal from Canadian Tax Foundation Canadian Tax Foundation, 145 Wellington Street West, Suite 1400, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5J 1H8.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Jim Lyons ().