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Canadian Taxes on Aloha
- Thread starter RokStar
- Start date
I know about Canadian taxes but not about Aloha. If you have a tax question I may be able to help you. You need to specify which Canadian jurisdiction(s) (i.e. provinces) you are looking at. There are somewhat different rules in the maritimes, Quebec, Ontario, Alberta and TROC (The Rest of Canada).
- Thread starter
- #3
Toronto (i.e. Ontario) has three tax regimes that you need to care about.
The first is a federal value-added tax called GST (Goods & Services Tax) (AKA Gouge & Screw Tax). GST may be included in the price or it may be added after the base price is determined. The great majority of retailers quote their prices before GST and the tax is added at the POS. The tax rate is 7% which may go to 6% in the next few months. That's still up in the air. Regardless of how the tax is handled (i.e. Included or Added), regulations require that the receipt display the total GST charged on a transaction. Not all products are subject to GST although in your environment it sounds like they will be. Things that are excluded include (for example) food purchased in a grocery store. Prepared food for immediate consumption (e.g. restaurants or take-out) are subject to GST.
The second tax is PST (Provincial Sales Tax) which is an 8% added tax. It, like GST, is computed on the gross value of taxable goods in the sale and, again like GST, the receipt must report total PST charged. PST applies only to goods purchased and not to services. GST on the other hand, applies to both Goods and Services (hence the name!)
Visitors to Canada may (subject to some arcane rules) claim a rebate of GST and/or PST that they paid while visiting Canada.
The third tax is a Liquor tax it is 10% on all liquor whether for take-out or immediate consumption.
In Ontario, as in most Canadian provinces, take-out liquor is sold only through liquor stores. Specifically in Ontario, the OLCB (Ontario Liquor Control Board) operated by the provincial government. You cannot purchase take-out liquor from a restaurant or bar.
There are a few other tax regimes such as room tax in hotels or Excise taxes on gasoline. I would assume that those are not relevant to your project.
The first is a federal value-added tax called GST (Goods & Services Tax) (AKA Gouge & Screw Tax). GST may be included in the price or it may be added after the base price is determined. The great majority of retailers quote their prices before GST and the tax is added at the POS. The tax rate is 7% which may go to 6% in the next few months. That's still up in the air. Regardless of how the tax is handled (i.e. Included or Added), regulations require that the receipt display the total GST charged on a transaction. Not all products are subject to GST although in your environment it sounds like they will be. Things that are excluded include (for example) food purchased in a grocery store. Prepared food for immediate consumption (e.g. restaurants or take-out) are subject to GST.
The second tax is PST (Provincial Sales Tax) which is an 8% added tax. It, like GST, is computed on the gross value of taxable goods in the sale and, again like GST, the receipt must report total PST charged. PST applies only to goods purchased and not to services. GST on the other hand, applies to both Goods and Services (hence the name!)
Visitors to Canada may (subject to some arcane rules) claim a rebate of GST and/or PST that they paid while visiting Canada.
The third tax is a Liquor tax it is 10% on all liquor whether for take-out or immediate consumption.
In Ontario, as in most Canadian provinces, take-out liquor is sold only through liquor stores. Specifically in Ontario, the OLCB (Ontario Liquor Control Board) operated by the provincial government. You cannot purchase take-out liquor from a restaurant or bar.
There are a few other tax regimes such as room tax in hotels or Excise taxes on gasoline. I would assume that those are not relevant to your project.
- Thread starter
- #5
Thanks golom,
So if I get a pizza and a beer, The pizza is taxed 7%gst, then 8% pst and the beer is taxed 7%gst, 8%pst, then 10%?
I assume all these taxes are on the base price, correct?
ie:
Pizza 10.00
gst .70
pst .80
total: 11.50
Beer 1.00
gst .07
pst .08
liq .10
total 1.25
So if I get a pizza and a beer, The pizza is taxed 7%gst, then 8% pst and the beer is taxed 7%gst, 8%pst, then 10%?
I assume all these taxes are on the base price, correct?
ie:
Pizza 10.00
gst .70
pst .80
total: 11.50
Beer 1.00
gst .07
pst .08
liq .10
total 1.25
They are. You do need to be aware that taxes are on the "total taxable amount". For example
[tt]
Quantity Price
1 0.90
1 0.90
etc. for 10 items
[/tt]
If you were to compute tax per item it would be
0.07 * 0.90 = $0.06 (rounded to the nearest cent)
and 10 * $0.06 = $0.60 total tax
BUT THAT'S NOT CORRECT!
It Should be
0.07 * (10 * 0.90) = $0.63 total tax
... and the government really wants that 3 cents.
You can of course do it with fractional cents and it will work correctly as long as you deal with rounding issues correctly. I don't know how Aloha does it but the "percent of total" approach eliminates such problems.
[tt]
Quantity Price
1 0.90
1 0.90
etc. for 10 items
[/tt]
If you were to compute tax per item it would be
0.07 * 0.90 = $0.06 (rounded to the nearest cent)
and 10 * $0.06 = $0.60 total tax
BUT THAT'S NOT CORRECT!
It Should be
0.07 * (10 * 0.90) = $0.63 total tax
... and the government really wants that 3 cents.
You can of course do it with fractional cents and it will work correctly as long as you deal with rounding issues correctly. I don't know how Aloha does it but the "percent of total" approach eliminates such problems.
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