Jan 18, 2017 / By: Dominik Jablecki / In: Tax Filing / 0 Comments

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Over the last couple of years, we at Checklick have come across quite a bit of confusion regarding GST/HST filing for children’s camps so we wanted to do a bit of digging to get answers to some of the more common questions.  For our research, we resorted to public CRA documentation, and an extensive phone conversation with a CRA General GST/HST Rulings agent.

Now, by no means are we experts on the subject so the following is our interpretation of both public CRA documentation and our discussion with a CRA General Rulings Agent.  The CRA agent stressed that Camp Operators may have unique operational cases which are not clearly defined in public documentation and hence, the CRA has resources to help with any cases in which you’re unsure of your Tax Status.  Those resources are provided at the bottom of the article.

Let’s start with the general guidelines provided in a CRA article titled, “GST/HST Info Sheet, Childrens Camps Operated by Public Sector Bodies”.  Click here to access the full article.

WHAT DID WE FIND OUT?

Important to note that in reference to recreational and athletic activity camps, the word “Primarily” is defined as “generally more than 50%”.

The most common question that we come across is, “should the tax decision be based on the age mix for each individual course or should apply to the whole program?”.  Based on the interpretation of the word, “Primarily” and the guidance of the CRA agent, your decision should be made taking into perspective your entire program offering and not each individual course.  I’ll get into a specific example below but if your camp offers a mix of overnight and daily camps, we suggest contacting the CRA and presenting your case to the GST/HST Rulings Center.  Revert to the bottom of the article for contact information.

Setting aside edge case scenarios, we’re going to focus on the most common type of camp that we come across which is a camp that offers daily but not overnight camps.  Let’s look at a specific case and conclude whether that camp is exempt from filing taxes.

In the case of CAMP A, if we looked at the class offerings on a class by class basis, we could conclude that Class 1 and Class 2 should be taxable.  However, because Class 3 has the most enrolments in which are mostly under 14 or that are underprivileged or have a disability, the overall camp numbers reveal that in entirety, tax exempt individuals outnumber taxable individuals.  As a result, we can conclude that CAMP A is exempt from filing GST/HST.

CONCLUSION:

This is a very simple example but it likely pertains to a good number of sport camps across the country.  We intentionally are not going to examine more complex scenario’s as the CRA Agent suggests any camps operating under a combination of private lessons, overnight camps, day camps or subcontracting 3rd party instructors should contact the rulings center.  

If you have any questions regarding your Camp’s tax status, we strongly advise to contact the CRA.  

Note the 2 contact options;

1. Contact the Canada Revenue Agency General Rulings Technical Questions phone line at 1-800-959-8287
2. Fax or Mail in your questions to the GST/HST General Ruling Center.
   

Fax:

905.527.0790

Mail:

Attn: GST/HST Rulings

55 Bay Street North

Hamilton, ON L8R 3P7

Source

Canada Revenue Agency

http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/gsthsttech/

http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pub/gi/gi-037/README.html

T. 1-800-959-5525 (General Business Inquiries)

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