The Goods and Services Tax (GST) is a tax on most goods and services provided in Canada. The tax rate is 5%.
The Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) replaces the provincial sales tax (PST) and GST in the provinces of Newfoundland and Labrador (13% rate), Nova Scotia (15% rate), New Brunswick (13% rate), Ontario (13% rate), and Prince Edward Island (14% rate).
Foreign convention: A conference or convention where at least 75% of participants are non-residents and the sponsor is a non-resident. IEEE is a non-resident sponsor. For detailed information, please see Info Sheet GI-029 on the Canada Revenue Agency Web site or contact the IEEE Tax Management department.
Canadian convention: A conference or convention where 25% or more of the participants are residents. For detailed information, please see Info Sheet GI-027 on the Canada Revenue Agency Web site or contact the IEEE Tax Management department.
How to determine Canadian or Foreign Convention status:
To determine the number of Canadian attendees you can reasonably expect to attend the conference, use the percentage of Canadian residents: 1) who attended previous IEEE conferences in Canada; 2) who are usually invited to attend the conference; or 3) are listed as members of IEEE.
Canadian members account for less than 10% of total IEEE membership but the other factors must also be used to reasonably determine the percentage of attendance. You need to keep documents available in the conference records to support how you determined the percentage of Canadian and non-resident attendees in case of an audit by the Canada Revenue Agency. However, if your determination was reasonable and you discover after the conference that more than 25% of the attendees were Canadian residents, the GST/HST status of the conference will not change.
Residents and non-residents are required to pay GST on the admission price to a Canadian convention.
Note – Do not file for the rebate using the legal name of The Institute of Electrical And Electronics Engineers, Inc. When you file for the rebate, use the name of the conference.