Jason asked:

Can I reclaim the provincial portion of HST on out-of-country purchase?

I run a small business in Ontario, and am not currently registered for HST. I recently made a purchase of materials from a U.S. firm who charged me HST on the total cost of the invoice. Is there a way to reclaim the provincial portion of the taxes? I have bought other materials from the U.S. in the past and have usually only been charged the GST (five per cent) portion as a tax, never the full 13 per cent.

Hank Bulmash answered:

Your U.S. supplier is registered for HST, and that's why it charged you the full amount. The law actually states that the supplier should charge GST or HST at the appropriate rates for the province of the customer's location. Since your business is located in Ontario, the U.S. supplier has charged you the correct amount, you can't recover the provincial portion.

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