Anticipated Impact of the HST on Ontario Nonprofits

Posted November 9th, 2009

In June 2010 the Province of Ontario will do away with its provincial sales tax (PST) and the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) will come into effect. The stated intent of the Ontario Government is that the impact of HST on our nonprofit sector is revenue neutral. Indeed, the provincial government made a significant effort to ensure this was so by establishing an 82% rebate rate for the PST portion of the HST. The government, however, did not have all the information to truly understand the full impact of HST on the sector, nor did we.

Towards this end, ONN convened a cross-sectoral work group, which included a tax expert and lawyer, to examine the potential impact of the harmonization of the PST/GST on the sector and its public. Our HST Constellation wrote a detailed brief which we have submitted to various government ministries, including Revenue, MCI, Culture and the Premier's Office. The brief explains how we think the sector will be impacted and makes eight recommendations on which we hope to see some action. A shorter Executive Summary is also available.

The sector is very diverse and various sub-sectors and organizations will be impacted differently by the harmonization, depending on the features of their GST status. Organizations in the nonprofit sector fall into one of four different classes of sales tax status and, to help you assess the impact of the HST on your organization, ONN has created a “How To” guide.

Below are all three of our documents. When you download them, you will be asked only once (even if you come back multiple times - which we hope you will!) to enter your email address. You will also to be invited to make a donation to support ONN's work, however, regardless of whether you choose to donate, you will be able to access all the documents.