Don’t let HST kill your business!
HST is a special tax that is added to the price of goods and services. This tax must be paid to the government whenever someone sells a good or service. The government (CRA) collects money from individuals and companies to help pay for government programs and services.
HST does not belong to you. Even though you collect HST, and the money sits in your bank account, it is not your money. The money collected must be held in trust for CRA. Relying on HST money to pay your bills is a key indicator that something is wrong either with your selling price or the amount of money you are spending.
We recommend you make frequent payments to the government, which reduces the amount of HST being held in your bank account. This lessens the temptation to spend HST money you’ve collected, and keeps you off of CRA’s audit-radar.
Adding insult to injury. CRA takes a punitive approach to businesses that violate their HST policies; they punish businesses until they comply. Not paying the correct amount of HST to the government on time attracts costly penalties and interest charges. This approach is exactly how HST can kill your business, as it quickly becomes impossible to pay the HST owed along with the huge penalties and interest. We have unfortunately seen too many cases where HST debt forces a business into bankruptcy.
Don’t let HST kill your business. Keep accurate records of the HST you’ve collected and pay your HST on time. This will keep you and your business safe from HST penalties and interest.
Business owners are unpaid tax collectors. Business owners are forced by the Canadian government to collect, store and remit HST money to the government. Therefore, you are effectively an unpaid tax collector. But wait, it gets worse!
Business owners, who collect HST on behalf of the government, are not paid or reimbursed for:
- Software costs required to track the HST owed;
- Bookkeeping and administrative time needed to get the HST numbers right; and,
- Professional accounting advice needed to help manage the HST process.
To run a successful business, you must factor the costs of collecting HST into the prices you charge customers. It’s these hidden costs, when not factored in, which trick business owners into using HST money to stay alive. This leads to even worse consequences.
We help businesses manage their HST processes to avoid getting into problems with the government and teach how to factor in the hidden costs of HST into their prices.
Don’t let HST kill your business!
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