Effective Dec. 14, 2024 until Feb. 15, 2025, GST/HST sales tax is eliminated on all qualifying goods sold. This is a tax break on your customers so be sure to provide this relief to them. This also means less GST for you to collect and remit to the CRA.

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For a full background on this announcement, see this link: https://www.canada.ca/en/department-finance/news/2024/11/more-money-in-your-pocket-a-tax-break-for-all-canadians.html

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Grocery Retailers – While most of your goods are already exempted from GST/HST sales tax, this eliminates all food products such as carbonated drinks, candies and similar items typically levied with GST/HST.

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Restaurants – On all meals sold, GST/HST sales tax is removed.

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Below is the full list of qualifying goods for your ease of reference. If eligible, ensure GST/HST sales tax is disabled in your POS system starting Dec. 14, 2024 until Feb. 15, 2025 for these items.

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• Food or beverages: items for human consumption that are:

• Alcoholic beverages (excluding spirits but including wine, beer, ciders, and spirit coolers up to 7 per cent ABV);

• Carbonated beverages, non-carbonated fruit juice or fruit flavoured beverages or products that, when added to water, produce one of these beverages;

• Candies; confectionery classed as candy or goods sold as candies (e.g., candy floss, chewing gum, and chocolate); fruits, seeds, nuts or popcorn coated or treated with candy, chocolate, honey, molasses, sugar, syrup, or artificial sweeteners;

• Chips, crisps, puffs, curls, or sticks (e.g., potato chips, corn chips, cheese puffs, potato sticks, bacon crisps, and cheese curls), popcorn, brittle pretzels, and salted nuts or seeds;

• Granola products and snack mixtures that contain cereals, nuts, seeds, dried fruit, or other edible products;

• Ice lollies, juice bars, ice waters, ice cream, ice milk, sherbet, frozen yoghurt or frozen pudding, including non-dairy substitutes;

• Fruit bars, rolls or drops or similar fruit-based snack foods;

• Cakes, muffins, pies, pastries, tarts, cookies, doughnuts, brownies, croissants with sweetened filling or coating (note that many bread products, such as bagels, English muffins, croissants, and bread rolls, are already zero-rated);

• Pudding, including flavoured gelatine, mousse, flavoured whipped dessert product, or any other products similar to pudding;

• Prepared salads, sandwiches, platters of cheese, cold cuts, fruit or vegetables, and other arrangements of prepared food;

• Food or beverages heated for consumption;

• Beverages dispensed at the place where they are sold;

• Food or beverages sold in conjunction with catering services;

• Food or beverages sold at an establishment where all or substantially all of the food or beverages sold are currently excluded from zero-rating (e.g., a restaurant, coffee shop, take-out outlet, pub, mobile canteen, lunch counter, or concession stand); and

• Bottled water or unbottled water that is dispensed at a permanent establishment of the supplier.

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