Tip: Service Providers Must Make HST Place of Supply Determination of an Invoice-by-Invoice Basis
Service providers should not make a determination of the place of supply for harmonized sales tax (HST) and applicable HST rate once at the beginning and not revist the analysis. As a technical matter, the legislation requires that service providers make a determination for each billing period because the relevant facts may change from invoice to invoice. For example, the types of services may change from billing period to billing period, which could affect the application of the HST place of supply rules. If there is more than one office or home address provided by the client, the location most closely connected with the supply may change from invoice to invoice.
The advice is do not follow the Ronco advice "Set It and Forget It". Canada Revenue Agency auditors are being trained to look into the details of each invoice and look at changes.
Cyndee Todgham Cherniak is counsel to and in affiliation with the International Trade Law and the Tax Law (Commodity Tax
Great Blog! I understand that HST can change from invoice to invoice because the dollar amount can change.