topic Re: Tax exemption for Native Status Card Holders in Get Support

Tax exemption for Native Status Card Holders

geogolem — Tue, 04 Jan 2022 20:01:47 GMT

I am asking this question for my mother, as it doesn't really apply to me.

My mother is a Public Mobile customer who is set-up on autopay. She should be receiving her Native Status Card in the mail soon -- it was a long process to apply and get approved. Once she receives this card she will be exempt from the PST (Provincial) portion of the HST on telecommunications services. For reference refer to this Bell website: http://support.bell.ca/Billing-and-Accounts/Billing/How_to_apply_for_Indian_status

Once she receives her card; how should she go about marking her Public Mobile account PST exempt?

Re: Tax exemption for Native Status Card Holders

JaK — Sat, 13 Aug 2016 23:24:31 GMT

Good question @geogolem!

PM has the ability to charge different tax based on what justidiction you are in, so you would think that they should be also be able adjust tax based on Native Status, but almost certain it will require the help of a PM staffer (eg one of the moderators) to set up.

In the meantime, she should be able to buy vouchers, present her Native Status Card and have the tax removed at time of purchase.

Re: Tax exemption for Native Status Card Holders

srlawren — Sun, 14 Aug 2016 00:02:25 GMT

Hi @geogolem. This is a great question I haven't encountered previously, and as I do not know the answer, I'm going to flag our community moderators @Shazia_K and @Mary_M in hopes that one of them can provide this information to you.

I suspect @JaK's suggested workaround would work also, provided the system that sells the vouchers is set up to be able to accept that information. I have no actual experience with how that works, so can't say positivley, but it is worth trying if Shazia and Mary don't have a better method.

Re: Tax exemption for Native Status Card Holders

makkahn28 — Sun, 14 Aug 2016 02:47:24 GMT

If PM has no system in place yet, they should, as it is a matter of fairness

Re: Tax exemption for Native Status Card Holders

JaK — Sun, 14 Aug 2016 12:31:45 GMT

The voucher method almost certainly will work, it was mentioned in another post as how they did it. My understanding is that most retail facilities have the ability to adjust the tax on presentation of a Native Status card, but it might require some paperwork. If she is on or close to a reserve, then buying vouchers there should be easy.

Re: Tax exemption for Native Status Card Holders

kav2001c — Sun, 14 Aug 2016 15:00:26 GMT

@makkahn28 nothing to do with fair, it is a legal requirement.

Native persons are not Canadian and as such have special treaties in place for things like taxes

Re: Tax exemption for Native Status Card Holders

kav2001c — Sun, 14 Aug 2016 15:01:17 GMT

@JaK great idea for temporary solution!

Re: Tax exemption for Native Status Card Holders

socialcocoon — Sun, 14 Aug 2016 22:17:31 GMT

Natives are Canadian...

Re: Tax exemption for Native Status Card Holders

makkahn28 — Sun, 14 Aug 2016 23:30:45 GMT

Actually, not necessarily. There are American Indians as well, too bad that the Mexican Natives are not part of it, they should, to be fair, and should be considered part of the law. MHO

Re: Tax exemption for Native Status Card Holders

kav2001c — Tue, 16 Aug 2016 05:37:11 GMT

@socialcocoon noooo and you will get lots of hate for implying that! They have special status in our country.

Re: Tax exemption for Native Status Card Holders

Neives — Tue, 27 Sep 2016 19:11:15 GMT

Hi, I'm still new to Public Mobile and also a Status card holder in the province of Ontario, as per OP's mother. Although the workaround idea of the voucher is great and no doubt effective, I would prefer to use the convenience of the Auto Pay option. Has there been a solution for this particular issue (as in, getting the appropriate tax exempt while using Auto Pay)?

Re: Tax exemption for Native Status Card Holders

geogolem — Tue, 27 Sep 2016 19:13:37 GMT

Hi @Neives,

I havent heard or seen anything new regarding this; however, my mother's status card finally came in the mail yesterday. She had some difficulty activating it and is waiting for a call back, but as soon as she gets the card "activated" we will investigate this more. We'll be pretty much in the same boat as you describe in your message. Please post here if you find out any more information and I will do the same.

Re: Tax exemption for Native Status Card Holders

Neives — Tue, 27 Sep 2016 19:30:07 GMT

Okay, sounds like a deal! Thanks for your reply! Still no responses from the mods @Mary_M , @Shazia_K ? Well, nothing to do but wait, I guess. Even with taxes, this service is far better for the value payed than what I was getting on my previous carrier

Re: Tax exemption for Native Status Card Holders

Mary_M — Wed, 28 Sep 2016 14:14:32 GMT

Good morning @Neives

i understand that you're concerned regarding the tax exemption.

I will look into this for you and acquire the necessary information, and I'll be sending you a private message shortly.

Thank you !

Mary

Re: Tax exemption for Native Status Card Holders

geogolem — Wed, 28 Sep 2016 14:19:18 GMT

@Mary_M: could you please also private message the user @sharerb with the details.

Re: Tax exemption for Native Status Card Holders

Mary_M — Wed, 28 Sep 2016 14:24:07 GMT

Yes of course @geogolem

Re: Tax exemption for Native Status Card Holders

Rockdaddy22 — Wed, 28 Sep 2016 14:28:05 GMT

Awesome work Mary 🙂
Remember, you can still use autopay with vouchers, you just have to have a credit card set up in your account.

Re: Tax exemption for Native Status Card Holders

Neives — Mon, 17 Oct 2016 17:59:01 GMT

So, after some working with our wonderful moderatory @Mary_M, there does not appear to be a way to take off the applicable tax via the web service, though as other helpful Community members have stated, using the voucher method would enable you to get tax exempted at the point of purchase.

However, this does not mean that there is no hope for those using only your credit card via the AutoPay web service.

Rather, in order to claim those taxes (for residents in the province of Ontario at least) you must fill out and mail in a completed form (one page long) along with proof of Status and original receipts/invoices (which is all we need provided from PM) saught after in the claim to the Ontario Ministry of Finance. This form and tons of other useful information relating to this subject can be found here at; http://www.fin.gov.on.ca/en/forms/general/0248.html.

Also interesting to note: it states that it is recommended that you send only one form with multiple claims at once, rather than many smaller claims, where you have up to 4 years from the date of receipt to file for the tax exemption.

Hope this helps with anyone having similar questions, and again, a big thank you to all of you who have first asked these and other questions and to anyone who has helped in any way to provide us with answers.

Have yourselves a great day!

Re: Tax exemption for Native Status Card Holders

geogolem — Mon, 17 Oct 2016 19:14:47 GMT

Thanks @Neives . My mother did in fact come to the same conclusion as you. The only reason we didn't post back here yet - is because she hasn't receives the invoices requested from Public Mobile via mail yet. As soon as she received the invoices she is going to submit them along with the appropriate form to the Ministry of Finance in the hopes of receiving a refund. We were waiting to post back here because we want to make sure that the invoices Public Mobile sends out have the necessary and appropriate information - i.e. amount of tax collected etc. I'll post back here if this is in fact the case when we receive them in the mail and also after receiving a response (refund or not) from the Ministry of Finance. Hopefully the invoices provided are sufficient and the Ministry of Finance accepts them without issue (if they have the appropriate information I see no reason why they would not)

Re: Tax exemption for Native Status Card Holders

Neives — Mon, 17 Oct 2016 19:41:41 GMT

The invoices should most certaintly be enough, and she should indeed receive her refund. Don't forget she must also send in photocopied proof of her Status (front and back of the card she should've received) along with the invoices and the forms. But as is also noted in the link I provided above, it can take quite some time before you see such a refund appear in her bank account (if she's signed up with direct deposit with the government(s)). A period of weeks at least and depending on the flow of other claimants.

As for getting the invoices in paper format via mail, I believe simply prinitng out the emails you get from Public Mobile whenever there is a charge made to your credit card should be sufficient enough in serving as such an invoice. However, I've yet to try it but, just a suggestion in the future to quicken the process.

Hope it works out for you's.

P.S. I don't think they (Ministry of Finance) send a formal response. I've only done something similar once before with Customs when receiving a package, and after a lenghty period of time I got a cheque stub in the mail showing the amount that was directly deposited on such-and-such a date. If I hadn't been eligible, I don't even know if they'd bother to send anything in way of response at all. Unfortunately, that's just sometimes the way things are - but again, I can't say with absolute certainty