Customers may not be aware, but certain groceries are taxable, while others are non-taxable.
According to the Canada Revenue Agency, groceries that are bought and sold are subject to the Excise Tax Act, which they say, "includes both the federal Goods and Services Tax (GST) and the provincial Harmonized Sales Tax (HST)". It should be noted that British Columbia does not have a harmonized sales tax. However, certain groceries are not subject to the excise tax - also known as "zero-rated."
They include "fresh, frozen, canned and vacuum sealed fruits and vegetables, breakfast cereals, most milk products, fresh meat, poultry and fish, eggs and coffee beans" according to an e-mail correspondence by the CRA to the simplymastery. However, "supplies of cakes muffins, pies, pastries, tarts, cookies, doughnuts, brownies, croissants with sweetened filling or coating, or similar products" are not zero-rated if sold to consumers as "single servings of less than six." If they are sold to customers in quantities more than six, such goods would be zero-rated.
Supplies of ice cream and goods similar to such, like ice milk, sherbet, frozen yoghurt or frozen pudding are not zero-rated when packaged and sold in single servings - and includes confections like ice cream bars, ice milk bars, drumsticks and ice cream sandwiches. If they are sold in quantities of more than a single serving, they are zero-rated. Certain beverages or pudding, including "flavoured gelatine, mousse, flavoured whipped dessert products or any other products similar to pudding would not be zero-rated" if sold as single servings but would be such if sold in quantities greater than a single serving or when prepackaged and sold in multiples of single servings.
The owner of the 99 Mile Supermarket, John Sperling, states that certain items go under "specific keys" when it comes to how groceries are taxed and not taxed.
Sperling states that the federal government ought to not be taxing groceries at all.
"Everyone pays tax on it before it even gets to me and then I have to charge - get my money back on the tax I pay," Sperling remarked. "So yeah, they found the way to tax food, governments, federal government's sneaky."
The CRA states that they have published a memorandum on basic groceries that are available on their website when it comes to determining whether or not one or the other should be taxed or non-taxed.
