Excise Tax Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. E-15)

DIVISION IIITax on Importation of Goods

Marginal note:Imposition of goods and services tax

212 Subject to this Part, every person who is liable under the Customs Act to pay duty on imported goods, or who would be so liable if the goods were subject to duty, shall pay to Her Majesty in right of Canada tax on the goods calculated at the rate of 5% on the value of the goods.

Meaning of commercial goods

• 212.1 (1) In this section, commercial goods means goods that are imported for sale or for any commercial, industrial, occupational, institutional or other like use.

• Marginal note:Tax in participating province

  (2) Subject to this Part, every person that is liable under the Customs Act to pay duty on imported goods, or would be so liable if the goods were subject to duty, shall pay to Her Majesty in right of Canada, in addition to the tax imposed by section 212, a tax on the goods calculated at the tax rate for a participating province on the value of the goods if

  • (a) the goods are prescribed goods imported at a place in the participating province; or

  • (b) the goods are not prescribed for the purposes of paragraph (a) and the person is resident in the participating province.

• Marginal note:Exception

  (3) Paragraph (2)(b) does not apply to goods that are accounted for as commercial goods under section 32 of the Customs Act, specified motor vehicles or a mobile home or a floating home that has been used or occupied in Canada by any individual.

• Marginal note:Application in offshore areas

  (4) Paragraph (2)(b) does not apply to goods imported by or on behalf of a person that is resident in the Nova Scotia offshore area or the Newfoundland offshore area unless the goods are imported for consumption, use or supply in the course of an offshore activity or the person is also resident in a participating province that is not an offshore area.

Marginal note:Exception

213 No tax under this Division is payable in respect of goods included in Schedule VII.

Marginal note:Security

213.1 For the purposes of this Division, the Minister may require a person mentioned in section 212 or 212.1 who imports goods to provide security, in an amount determined by the Minister and subject to such terms and conditions as the Minister may specify, for the payment of any amount that is or may become payable by the person under this Division, where provisions of the Customs Act, the Customs Tariff or any other laws relating to customs under which security may be required do not apply to the payment of that amount.

Marginal note:Import certificate

• 213.2 (1) The Minister may, on the request of a registrant who imports goods, issue to the registrant, subject to such conditions as the Minister may specify, a written authorization (in this section referred to as an “import certificate”) for the purpose of applying, on and after the effective date specified in the authorization, section 8.1 of Schedule VII in respect of goods of a particular class imported by the registrant, in which event the Minister shall assign to the registrant a number to be disclosed when the goods are accounted for under section 32 of the Customs Act.

• Marginal note:Application

  (2) A request for an import certificate shall contain prescribed information and be filed with the Minister in prescribed manner.

• Marginal note:Cancellation

  (3) The Minister may, after giving a person to whom an import certificate has been issued reasonable written notice, cancel the import certificate of the person if

  • (a) the person fails to comply with any condition attached to the certificate or any provision of this Division,

  • (b) the Minister determines that it is no longer required for the purposes for which it was issued, or generally for the purposes of this Division, or

  • (c) it can reasonably be expected that the person will no longer be importing goods of a class in respect of which the certificate was issued in circumstances in which the goods would be included in Schedule VII,

  and, where the Minister cancels the import certificate of a person, the Minister shall notify the person in writing of the cancellation and the effective date of the cancellation.

• Marginal note:Application after cancellation

  (4) Where the Minister has cancelled the import certificate of a person in circumstances described in paragraph (3)(a), the Minister shall not issue a new certificate under subsection (1) before the day that is two years after the day on which the cancellation is effective.

• Marginal note:Cessation

  (5) An import certificate issued under this section ceases to have effect on the earlier of

  • (a) the effective date of the cancellation of the certificate under subsection (3), and

  • (b) the day that is three years after the effective date of the certificate.

Marginal note:Payment of taxes

214 Tax on goods under this Division shall be paid and collected under the Customs Act, and interest and penalties shall be imposed, calculated, paid and collected under that Act, as if the tax were a customs duty levied on the goods under the Customs Tariff and, for those purposes, the Customs Act, with such modifications as the circumstances require, applies subject to this Division.

Marginal note:Deduction

214.1 Where tax under section 212.1 is payable by a person and all or any portion of that tax is an amount that is prescribed for the purposes of subsection 234(3), that amount shall be deducted from that tax in determining the amount required to be paid and collected under section 214.

Marginal note:Value of goods

• 215 (1) For the purposes of this Division, the value of goods shall be deemed to be equal to the total of

  • (a) the value of the goods, as it would be determined under the Customs Act for the purpose of calculating duties imposed on the goods at a percentage rate, whether the goods are in fact subject to duty, and

  • (b) the amount of all duties and taxes, if any, payable on the goods under the Customs Tariff, the Excise Act, 2001, the Special Import Measures Act, this Act (other than this Part) or any other law relating to customs.

• Marginal note:Idem

  (2) Notwithstanding subsection (1), for the purposes of this Division, the value of goods imported in prescribed circumstances shall be determined in prescribed manner.

• Marginal note:Value of goods re-imported after processing

  (3) The value of goods that are being imported for the first time after having been processed (as defined in subsection 2(1) of the Value of Imported Goods (GST/HST) Regulations) outside Canada shall be determined for the purposes of this Division without regard to section 13 of those Regulations if

  • (a) the value of the goods would, but for this subsection, be determined for the purposes of this Division under that section; and

  • (b) they are the same goods, in their processed state, as other goods, or incorporate, as a result of their processing, other goods, that were last imported in circumstances in which no tax was payable under this Division because of section 8.1 or 11 of Schedule VII.

Marginal note:Rebate for returned goods

• 215.1 (1) Where

  • (a) a person paid tax under this Division on goods that were acquired by the person on consignment, approval, sale-or-return basis or other similar terms,

  • (b) the goods are, within sixty days after their release and before they are used or consumed otherwise than on a trial basis, exported by the person for the purpose of returning them to the supplier and are not damaged after their release and before the exportation, and

  • (c) within two years after the day the tax was paid, the person files with the Minister an application, in prescribed form containing prescribed information, for a rebate of the tax,

  the Minister shall, subject to section 263, pay a rebate to the person equal to the amount of the tax paid on the goods.

• Marginal note:Rebate for goods damaged, etc.

  (2) Where

  • (a) a person paid an amount as tax under this Division on goods that were imported

    • (i) for consumption, use or supply otherwise than exclusively in the course of a commercial activity of the person, or

    • (ii) for consumption, use or supply in the course of a commercial activity of the person and the person was, at the time of the release of the goods, a small supplier who was not registered under Subdivision D of Division V,

  • (b) the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness has, under any of sections 73, 74 and 76 of the Customs Act, granted an abatement or refund of all or part of the duties paid on the goods,

  • (c) the person has not been and is not entitled to be compensated under a warranty for loss suffered because of any of the circumstances described in those sections by receiving a supply of replacement parts, or replacement property, that are goods included in section 5 of Schedule VII, and

  • (d) within two years after the day the amount was paid as tax under this Division, the person files with the Minister an application, in prescribed form containing prescribed information, for a rebate of the amount,

  the Minister shall, subject to section 263, pay a rebate to the person equal to the amount determined by the formula

  (A × B) + [A × (B/C) × D]

  where

  A

  is the total of the rate of tax imposed under section 212 at the time the goods were accounted for under subsection 32(1), (2) or (5) of the Customs Act and, where an amount was paid as tax under section 212.1, the rate of tax imposed under that section at that time;

  B

  is the amount of the abatement or refund granted under the Customs Act,

  C

  is the amount of the duties that were the subject of the abatement or refund, and

  D

  is the value for duty of the goods under that Act.

• Marginal note:Abatement or refund of tax as if it were duty

  (3) Subject to section 263, sections 73, 74 and 76 of the Customs Act apply, with any modifications that the circumstances require, to an amount paid by a person as tax under this Division as though the amount were duties paid under that Act, where

  • (a) the amount was paid as tax on goods that were imported

    • (i) for consumption, use or supply otherwise than exclusively in the course of a commercial activity of the person, or

    • (ii) for consumption, use or supply in the course of a commercial activity of the person and the person was, at the time of the release of the goods, a small supplier who was not registered under Subdivision D of Division V;

  • (b) if the goods had been subject to duties paid under that Act, an abatement or refund of the whole or part of the duties could have been granted under section 73, 74 or 76 of that Act because of circumstances

    • (i) described in paragraph 73(a) or (b), any of paragraphs 74(1)(a) to (c) or subsection 76(1) of that Act, or

    • (ii) in which an error was made in the determination under subsection 58(2) of that Act of the value of the goods and the determination has not been the subject of a decision under any of sections 59 to 61 of that Act;

  • (c) the person has not been and is not entitled to be compensated under a warranty for loss suffered because of any of those circumstances by receiving a supply of replacement parts, or replacement property, that are goods included in section 5 of Schedule VII; and

  • (d) within two years after the day on which the amount was paid as tax under this Division, the person files with the Minister an application, in prescribed form containing prescribed information, for a rebate of the amount.

Meaning of determination of the tax status

• 216 (1) In this section, determination of the tax status of goods means a determination, re-determination or further re-determination that the goods are, or are not, included in Schedule VII.

• Marginal note:Application of Customs Act

  (2) Subject to subsections (4) to (6), the Customs Act (other than subsections 67(2) and (3) and sections 68 and 70) and the regulations made under that Act apply, with such modifications as the circumstances require, to the determination of the tax status of goods for the purposes of this Division as if it were the determination, re-determination or further re-determination, as the case requires, of the tariff classification of the goods.

• Marginal note:Idem

  (3) The Customs Act and the regulations made under that Act apply, with such modifications as the circumstances require, to the appraisal, re-appraisal or further re-appraisal of the value of goods for the purposes of this Division as if it were the appraisal, re-appraisal or further re-appraisal, as the case requires, of the value for duty of the goods.

• Marginal note:Appeals of determination of tax status

  (4) In applying the Customs Act to a determination of the tax status of goods, the references in that Act to the “Canadian International Trade Tribunal” shall be read as references to the “Tax Court of Canada”.

• Marginal note:Application of Part IX and Tax Court of Canada Act

  (5) The provisions of this Part and of the Tax Court of Canada Act that apply to an appeal taken under section 302 apply, with any modifications that the circumstances require, to an appeal taken under subsection 67(1) of the Customs Act from a decision of the President of the Canada Border Services Agency made under section 60 or 61 of that Act in a determination of the tax status of goods as if the decision of the President were a confirmation of an assessment or a reassessment made by the Minister under subsection 301(3) or (4) as a consequence of a notice of objection filed under subsection 301(1.1) by the person to whom the President is required to give notice under section 60 or 61 of the Customs Act, as the case may be, of the decision.

• Marginal note:Rebate resulting from appraisal or re-appraisal

  (6) If, because of an appraisal, a re-appraisal or a further re-appraisal of the value of goods or a determination of the tax status of goods, it is determined that the amount that was paid as tax under this Division on the goods exceeds the amount of tax that is required under this Division to be paid on the goods and a refund of the excess would be given under paragraph 59(3)(b) or 65(1)(b) of the Customs Act if the tax under this Division on the goods were a customs duty on the goods levied under the Customs Tariff, a rebate of the excess shall, subject to section 263, be paid to the person who paid the excess, and the provisions of the Customs Act that relate to the payment of such refunds and interest on such refunds apply, with any modifications that the circumstances require, as if the rebate of the excess were a refund of duty.

• Marginal note:Application of s. 69 of Customs Act

  (7) Subject to section 263, section 69 of the Customs Act applies, with such modifications as the circumstances require, where an appeal in respect of the value of goods or a determination of the tax status of goods is taken for the purpose of determining whether tax under this Division on the goods is payable or of determining the amount of such tax.