Reinstatement of the General HST Point-of-Sale Book Rebate in Newfoundland and Labrador

On August 22, 2017, the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador announced that, effective January 1, 2018, the general provincial point-of-sale rebate of the provincial component of the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) applicable to all qualifying book purchasers would be reinstated.

The reinstated rebate will apply to the same qualifying books and have the same eligibility conditions as applied for the general point-of-sale rebate before it ceased to apply as of January 1, 2017.

Specifically, the rebate will be available to all persons, including wholesalers, retailers, or consumers, of qualifying books at any point in the distribution chain that:

  • are recipients of supplies of qualifying books in Newfoundland and Labrador;
  • are resident in the Province and import qualifying books where the provincial component of the HST will be payable on the importation; or
  • receive delivery or possession of qualifying books in, or bring qualifying books into, the Province in circumstances where the provincial component of the HST will be payable on the books.

Qualifying books are:

  • most printed books and updates,
  • bound and unbound versions of scripture,
  • audio recordings all or substantially all of which are a spoken reading of a printed book,
  • printed books and another item sold together as a single package under certain circumstances.

Authority for the reinstated rebate will be provided in the Newfoundland and Labrador Tax Agreement Regulations, 2018.

Obtaining the General HST Point-of-Sale Book Rebate

Suppliers of qualifying books will be able to pay or credit the rebate, equal to the provincial component of the HST on qualifying books, at the point-of-sale and collect only the five percent federal component of the HST from purchasers.

If rebate amounts are not paid or credited at the point-of-sale, they may be claimed by including them in a rebate application filed with the Canada Revenue Agency within four years after the earlier of the day the provincial component of the HST became payable or was paid without having become payable.

Timing of Reinstatement of the General HST Book Rebate

It is proposed that the general provincial point-of-sale book rebate would apply to qualifying books effective January 1, 2018.

Specifically, the reinstatement of the general point-of-sale rebate will apply if:

  • tax becomes payable on or after January 1, 2018 and it was not paid before that day, or
  • tax is paid on or after January 1, 2018 and it did not become payable before that day.

Printed Book Rebate for Certain Public Service Bodies

For books purchased in 2017, when the general point-of-sale rebate was not available, a rebate was available to certain public service bodies (PSBs) of both the federal and provincial components of the HST applicable to printed books and other specified property purchased, imported, or brought into Newfoundland and Labrador. As of January 1, 2018, the printed book rebate for PSBs is only available with respect to the GST or the federal component of the HST.

Additional Information

For further information on the reinstatement of the general point-of-sale rebate for qualifying books, please contact the Canada Revenue Agency’s Business enquiries line at 1-800-959-5525 (English service) or 1-800-959-7775 (French service).