Beginning July 1, 2010, the Department of Finance Canada plans to implement the electronic filing of goods and services tax (GST) returns by Canadian and Québec businesses.

As of that date, according to the new measures that have been proposed, the following groups will be required to file their GST/HST returns electronically:

• GST/HST registrants (other than charities) that have annual taxable supplies of more than $1.5 million
• all registrants required to recapture input tax credits for the provincial part of the HST on certain taxable supplies acquired in Ontario and British Columbia 
• builders affected by the transitional provisions enacted by Ontario and British Columbia concerning new housing

Regulations specifying the persons and categories of persons required to file such returns electronically will be announced soon.

Since we collect GST in the province of Québec, we plan to support agents in filing their GST returns electronically by providing an additional way for them to do so beginning in July 2010. Presently, there are three ways they can file electronically:

• through a financial institution 
• by using our online services 
• by using authorized software

More information on this subject will be available on our website, in addition to the information concerning the application of the new HST adopted by Ontario and British Columbia. For more information you may also speak with one of our client services representatives by calling 1 800 567-4692.