I am a US citizen living and working in Canada for a small US company that provides consulting services to a large Canadian company. I am considered an independent contractor; and am paid in US dollars to my US bank account. My employer automatically deducts 15% for Canadian taxes. Recently, the other US contractors for this company (including myself) were instructed to begin charging 13% HST. I've researched HST and understand that a blanket statement to charge HST is not acceptable, because it does not begin until after the first $30,000 (and that start date varies drastically for each worker). My question is, should we even be charging HST as independent contractors in the first place?
1 Answer
There is no minimum amount before you can start charging HST, only a maximum beyond which you must charge HST (if it is taxable). Even if your taxable sales are $1 you can charge HST. If your sales are only taxable and zero-rated services, it's to your advantage to do so since you can take advantage of input tax credits.
