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A value-added tax (VAT or goods and services tax (GST), general consumption tax (GCT)) is a consumption tax that is levied on the value added at each stage of a product's production and distribution. VAT is similar to, and is often compared with, a sales tax.
The GST applies nationally. The HST includes the provincial portion of the sales tax but is administered by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) and is applied under the same legislation as the GST. The HST is in effect in Ontario, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.
The tax is a 5% tax imposed on the supply of goods and services that are purchased in Canada, except certain items that are either "exempt" or "zero-rated": For tax-free — i.e., "zero-rated" — sales, GST is charged by suppliers at a rate of 0% so effectively there is no GST collected.
Value added tax (VAT), in which tax is charged on all sales, thus avoiding the need for a system of resale certificates. Tax cascading is avoided by applying the tax only to the difference ("value added") between the price paid by the first purchaser and the price paid by each subsequent purchaser of the same item.
Map of the world showing national-level sales tax / VAT rates as of October 2019. A comparison of tax rates by countries is difficult and somewhat subjective, as tax laws in most countries are extremely complex and the tax burden falls differently on different groups in each country and sub-national unit.
To the extent that taxing something results in less of it (whether income or consumption), taxing consumption instead of income should encourage both work and capital formation, which increases economic growth, while discouraging consumption. [3] [4] Secondly, the tax base is larger because all consumption is taxed.
A business is generally able to recover input VAT to the extent that the input VAT is attributable to (that is, used to make) its taxable outputs. Input VAT is recovered by setting it against the output VAT for which the business is required to account to the government, or, if there is an excess, by claiming a repayment from the government.
In 1996, three of the four Atlantic provinces—New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Nova Scotia—entered into an agreement with the Government of Canada to implement what was initially termed the "blended sales tax" (renamed to "harmonized sales tax") which would combine the 7% federal GST with the provincial sales taxes of those provinces; as part of this project, the PST portion ...