RE: Applicable Canadian Taxes for Web Certs

[Akbar & Jeff's Reincarnation Hut]

Hi All,

As a reseller/consultant who has been around the 
"does PST apply" question a number of times,
I believe that it fails the tests that the Retail
Sales Tax people apply.  In any case, I can certainly
build a strong enough case that I feel quite confortable
in saying that I did due dilligance in considering 
the matter :).

My understanding of certificates is that the fee
is charged for the CA to verify the authenticity
of the data provided - that is, it is charged 
in order to compensate for the time and trouble
it takes for the CA to recieve the client documentation,
review it, and make a determination as to it's validity,
and to support the backend processes required to provide
same.

The actual signing with the CA's private key is simply
the chit that the customer gets in order to show to the
world that his claim to his name, or what-have-you, has
be independantly verified.

There are no tangable goods here, and reviewing/thinking
about paperwork is definately a professional service.

Of course, I rather agree that if you don't feel 
confident in your own ability to make the determination,
or defend it successfully, that you would be well 
advised to pay someone who _is_ a lawyer, who will
give you certain guarantees. 


        arakune
_________________________
We want your guns.
We want your sandwiches.
-NtS


On Thu, 31 May 2001, Darryl Green wrote:

> Interesting question:
> 
> Here's the comments i dug up around here.
> 
> Tucows hasn't had to answer this question definitively (via a legal opinion)
> because we are selling to resellers (not end users) therfore, in any event,
> we are not obliged to collect PST.
> 
> That said, and this is not legal or professional advice, we are not tax
> lawyers or tax accountants, we aren't 100% positive but we believe it is a
> service and as such, PST does not need to be charged. For greater certainty
> ask your friendly tax lawyer (or other professional that has professsional
> liability insurance that kicks in in the event that their opinions are
> incorrect).
> 
> Hoep this helps
> Regards
> Darryl Green
> Product Manager Web Certificates
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Tucows Inc.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Brian Backland
> > Sent: Thursday, May 31, 2001 11:47 AM
> > Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > Subject: Applicable Canadian Taxes for Web Certs
> >
> >
> > Is a web certificate considered to be a PRODUCT or a SERVICE for sales
> > tax purposes?
> > When I resell a web certificate to a customer,  what Canadian taxes must
> > be charged?  Is it GST only or do I need to charge PST as well?  BTW,
> > this is for Ontario...
> >
> > --
> >
> > Regards,
> > Brian Backland
> > Backland Communications Inc.
> > 705-725-7725
> > [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>