sales tax

Sales Taxes in the USA and Canada

USA and Canada

You also have to pay sales tax on car rental charges, unless you have a pre-paid voucher with includes this cost. Most pre-paid car rental vouchers do not include sales tax, in which you have to pay the sales tax on the full value of the rental (not what you paid for the voucher) at the car rental company's office, together with any other locally applied costs such as CDW/LDW (and of course, the tax on those elements).

Prices quoted in motel chain directories also exclude taxes.

Canada Only

If you obtain a copy of the "Rebate for Visitors" leaflet from a travel agent, keep all your receipts for accommodation and non-consumable items and fill in the form in the leaflet, then you can claim back the GST tax from a duty-free shop at the border when you leave Canada. This is a bit of a time-consuming business, but well worth doing as the amount involved can be quite considerable.

GST is 7% throughout Canada.

PST applies in British Columbia (7%), Manitoba (7%), Ontario (8%), Prince Edward Island (10%), the Province of Quebec (7.5%) and Saskatchewan (7%).

In New Brunswick, Newfoundland (including Labrador) and Nova Scotia HST (Harmonised Sales Tax) applies. This combines GST and PST and is 15%.

There is no PST (or the rate is currently 0%) in Alberta, Northwest Territories and Yukon.

All rates are as at early 1998.

In the Province of Quebec GST is called TPS and PST is called TVQ.