The Public Service Bodies' Rebate

Charities often operate with tight budgets while delivering essential services. To support these vital organizations, the government offers a valuable relief option known as the Public Service Bodies' Rebate ("PSB"). This rebate helps charities recover a portion of the GST and federal part of the HST paid on eligible purchases.

What is a Public Service Body (PSB) Rebate?

The PSB rebate allows charities, qualifying non-profit organizations, and certain public service bodies to recoup a percentage of the GST and federal HST paid on their eligible purchases. For charities located in participating provinces, the rebate extends to include a portion of the provincial HST as well.

Participating provinces include the following:

• Ontario
• New Brunswick
• Newfoundland and Labrador
• Nova Scotia
• Prince Edward Island

How to Claim the Public Service Bodies' Rebate

To claim the rebate, there is a prescribed form to fill out labelled Form GST66 – Application for GST/HST Public Service Bodies' Rebate and HST Self-Government Refund. If you are already a GST/HST registrant, you will need to fill out Form GST66 every reporting period. If you are not a GST/HST registrant, you can file Form GST66 for the first half of your fiscal year, the second half of your fiscal year, or both depending on which periods you are eligible for the rebate.

Filing Deadlines

If you are a GST/HST registrant, you have up to four years from the due date of your GST/HST return to file the GST66 form. If you are not a GST/HST registrant, you have four years from the last day of claim period.

The difference between the two is that the deadline is tied to the return's due date whereas for non-registrants, it is tied to the end of the claim period. It should be noted that you are not considered a GST/HST registrant if you have a business number solely to claim this rebate.

Calculating Your Public Service Bodies' Rebate

Please note that the following steps only apply to charities that use the regular method of calculating the PSB rebate rather than the simplified method.

Step 1: Do You Qualify?

The first step involves determining if you are a charity that is not a selected public service body.

A selected public service body includes:

• A school, university, or public college that does not operate for the purpose of profit
• A hospital
• A municipality
• A facility operator
• An external supplier

If you are a charity and are not one of the bodies listed above, you can proceed to the next step.

Step 2: Are You Resident in Multiple Provinces?

The second step involves determining if you are resident in two or more provinces, with at least one of these provinces being a participating province. For example, you could be a charity that is resident in Ontario and Manitoba. In this case, you would qualify, since you are resident in two provinces, one of which is a participating province (Ontario).

If you are a charity that is resident in two or more provinces, with at least one of these provinces being a participating province, you can proceed to the next step.

Step 3: Calculating Your Non-Creditable GST Charged

In order to calculate your non-creditable GST charged, you need to determine the amount of the GST you have paid on each of your eligible purchases. If you have received a provincial point-of-sale rebate of the provincial portion of the HST payable during the claim period on eligible purchases, you would also need to determine the amount of the federal part of the HST you paid on each purchase.

Once you have determined the amount of the GST or, if applicable, federal part of the HST, paid for each of the eligible purchases, subtract all of the following that you have received or are entitled to for any of that amount:

• Income tax credits (ITCs)
• Rebates
• Refunds
• Remissions

Add together all of the non-creditable GST amounts pertaining to the claim period to determine your non-creditable GST charged.

Step 4: Calculating Your Federal Non-Creditable HST Charged

In order to calculate your federal non-creditable HST charged, you need to determine the amount of HST you have paid at the rate of 13% on each of your eligible purchases and multiply this amount by the fraction 5/13.

Then, you need to determine the amount of HST you have paid at the rate of 14% on each of your eligible purchases and multiply this amount by the fraction 5/14.

Finally, you need to determine the amount of HST you have paid at the rate of 15% on each of your eligible purchases and multiply this amount by the fraction 5/15.

Once you have determined the federal portion of the HST paid for each eligible purchase, subtract all of the following that you have received or are entitled to for any of that amount:

• Income tax credits (ITCs)
• Rebates
• Refunds
• Remissions

Add together all of the amounts pertaining to the claim period to determine your federal non-creditable HST charged.

Step 5: Calculating Your PSB Rebate of the GST and/or Federal Part of the HST

Add your total non-creditable GST (Step 3) and federal non-creditable HST (Step 4). Multiply this sum by 50% to determine your PSB rebate.

Step 6: Calculating Your Provincial Non-Creditable HST Charged

In order to calculate your provincial non-creditable HST charged, you need to determine the amount of HST you have paid at the rate of 13% on each of your eligible purchases and multiply this amount by the fraction 8/13.

Then, you need to determine the amount of HST you have paid at the rate of 14% on each of your eligible purchases and multiply this amount by the fraction 9/14.

Finally, you need to determine the amount of HST you have paid at the rate of 15% on each of your eligible purchases and multiply this amount by the fraction 10/15.

Once you have determined the provincial portion of the HST paid for each eligible purchase, subtract all of the following that you have received or are entitled to for any of that amount:

• Income tax credits (ITCs)
• Rebates
• Refunds
• Remissions

The resulting amounts are your provincial non-creditable HST charged for each eligible purchase.

Step 7: Determining the Extent to Which You Intend to Use Each Eligible Purchase

In this step, you need to determine how much you intend to use the eligible purchases in each province that you reside in. This is expressed as a percentage.

For example, say you are a charity operating in Ontario and Manitoba that uses a consulting service. In order to determine the extent to which you intend to use the consulting service in each of the provinces, you would assign a percentage. Accordingly, you may determine that you use the consulting service 40% in Manitoba, and 60% in Ontario.

Step 8: Calculating Your PSB Rebate of the Provincial Part of the HST

In order to calculate your PSB rebate of the provincial part of the HST, you first need to know the PSB rebate factor for each participating province:

Multiple the PSB rebate factor by the provincial non-creditable HST charged on each eligible purchase, which was calculated in Step 6.

Subsequently, you multiply the resulting amount by the extent you intended to use the eligible purchase in the participating province, which was calculated in Step 7.

The resulting amount is your PSB rebate of the provincial part of the HST paid on each eligible purchase.

In order to calculate your total PSB rebate amount for a participating province, add together the amounts of the PSB rebate of the provincial part of the HST paid on all of the eligible purchases.

Repeat Step 8 for each participating province in which you are resident.

Ultimately, by understanding and utilizing the PSB rebate effectively, charities can alleviate some financial pressure and better allocate resources to their important work.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.