

Ask HN: Canadian developers/consultants and Ontario's crazy RST/PST rules - st3fan

I'm pretty much new in Ontario. So far I've only invoiced customers in Europe, which is easy, since you don't charge any taxes to software services abroad.<p>But now I have some local clients (yay!) and I'm trying to figure out whether I should put RST on my invoices.<p>I write iPhone software for my clients. So I talk to them, they give me a design, I go the my home office, develop code and when I'm done I transfer them the source code and rights for these apps. My clients will then actually sell these to the end-user.<p>I've been reading http://www.rev.gov.on.ca/english/guides/rst/650.html to figure out whether I should charge my clients RST but the document is terribly complex and doesn't seem to cover my simple case.<p>I know I should probably talk to an accountant, but really, this stuff should not be so hard. It seems Ontario is the only province with a very complicated RST framework.<p>Has anyone here gone through the same already?
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xinsight
There are some hilarious tax laws. I remember reading that PST was required to
be charged if a web site was delivered on _CDROM_. If you delivered it
digitally there was no PST.

The distinction here is whether you are selling software or working to build
custom software. Clearly your clients are involved in the design, so it's not
the same as buying a copy of Photoshop. So, no PST.

You should register for a business number with the feds and charge GST. Any
GST you spend on expenses (e.g. laptop) will reduce how much GST you have to
submit.

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tuukkah
From the document you link: "Goods for Resale: Computer programs purchased for
the purpose of resale (e.g., computer programs that will become "part of"
another program, etc.) can be purchased exempt from RST. This exemption is not
limited to manufacturers."

