Gift cards are a form of gift certificate offered by businesses in the form of swipe or chip cards. An amount of money is stored on the card for use by a customer to purchase goods or services from the issuing business or businesses.

Gift certificates are vouchers that allow you to purchase goods or services for a certain value from one or more designated businesses.

The sale of gift cards and gift certificates is not taxable. However, the GST and QST apply to the total price of the goods or services purchased using a gift card or gift certificate, as in a cash purchase. The value of the gift card or gift certificate is considered to cover all or part of the amount paid for the goods or services purchased.

For more information, see the document General Information Concerning the QST and the GST/HST (IN-203-V).