# Item or service that you can purchase or hire that is not taxable



## Beaver101 (Nov 14, 2011)

Can you think of any? I'll start, e-bike. http://canadianmoneyforum.com/showthread.php/113065-Electrical-bikes?p=1550834#post1550834


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## Beaver101 (Nov 14, 2011)

^ Just to clarify on the "service" - legal ones please.


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## Just a Guy (Mar 27, 2012)

You want a legal way to avoid taxes? I believe we have an oxymoron...


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## Beaver101 (Nov 14, 2011)

Just a Guy said:


> You want a legal way to avoid taxes? I believe we have an oxymoron...


 ... just to re-clarify - I didn't say "avoid" taxes nor inferring to that. And I don't disagree it might be an oxymoron if none exists (as I too don't believe it to be too) but then there's some(?) items (newly discovered - ebikes) you can purchase that doesn't require HST. And so is it possible that there're some services too (eg. health -related ones?) that don't require some form of tax? I could be looking for a needle in a haystack here.


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## humble_pie (Jun 7, 2009)

what a good idea! 

society in general can encourage consumption of certain green products or services by removing gst & hst.

it's a good service to publicize these imho.

at present, garage & church basement sales are not subject to gst plus provincial tax. There is a gummint movement to impose these taxes on the neighbourhoods & the churches, but now that i think about it, perhaps the gummints should back off. We don't see high dollar volume at these sales, so taxing em would be a lot of work for the gummints in return for low recoverable taxes.

but more importantly, gummints should be seeking ways to recycle goods & keep them out of landfills. Countless small items with still-useful lives change hands at garage & church sales. One man's castoff is another man's treasure. Gummints should encourage neighbourhood recycle sales without taxing them, imho.

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## Just a Guy (Mar 27, 2012)

Technically you should declaire the income from such sales, and some locals require a permit (tax).


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## humble_pie (Jun 7, 2009)

Just a Guy said:


> Technically you should declaire the income from such sales, and some locals require a permit (tax).



oh c'mon. I donate a few outgrown children's clothes or unmatched dishes to the church basement sale?

i don't have any income, the church has the income. They're exempt from taxation.

if i were a regular flea market merchant, maybe record the income. A FMM would also get to deduct his expenses, ie flea market stall rental, cost of goods purchased, etc.


every few years, my street block has an block party garage sale. It's a festive day. The city lends tables & barricades traffic. There's piped music. All the families come out to visit each other's tables. It's the only time when everybody on the block talks to everybody else.

the purpose is to recycle goods, declutter one's own house, not to make big $$. It's a happy, heathy activity. Any "taxes" recoverable by a gummint would be negligible. Let us not be Scrooge.

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## Joe Black (Aug 3, 2015)

Just a Guy said:


> Technically you should declaire the income from such sales, and some locals require a permit (tax).


I've done some quick research and from what I've found the typical garage or Kijiji sale doesn't need to be declared. And this makes sense, you are not usually making a "profit" and therefore this is not "income". If I sold you a $20 bill for $10, I did not make $10 income. Another way to look at it as that you are selling goods you bought with after-tax money, now you are just exchanging the goods back for money (probably less). There's no profit here, hence no income.

What I understand from the research is:
1. If it was property you used yourself, it falls into the Personal Use Property class, which is different from property you bought for the sole purpose of reselling (in which case it would be "business" income)
2. There are a few types of item that exempt from the above termed "listed", this is mostly collectibles, and are treated as capital gains (or loss)
3. If I understand correctly, if you sell a PUP for less than $1000, it doesn't matter if you made a "profit" on it, it is exempt. Otherwise, it is treated as a capital gain (but you can't claim capital loss on other PUP sales)

These were the better resources I found:
http://www.taxplanningguide.ca/tax-...iduals/selling-personal-use-capital-property/

https://www.reddit.com/r/PersonalFi...uld_you_pay_tax_on_100_you_made_on_kijiji_or/ (just the "best suggested" answer)

The take away I got was that if you are selling goods you used personally for less than $1000 and it is not a "collectible" type item (stamps, coins, etc.) you don't have to declare anything.


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## Plugging Along (Jan 3, 2011)

Just a Guy said:


> Technically you should declaire the income from such sales, and some locals require a permit (tax).


This mat have changed from when I did taxes, but technically, no you do not need declare garage sales, kijiji, resale of used items, etc. If it was for resale from personal use (you weren't doing this as a form of a business) there is no require to report the profit. If someone was buying let's say a whole bunch of stuff at a discount for the purpose of resale, then yes. We believe bought a whole bunch of used hard drives, we bought some to replace our own for person use, but it was cheaper to buy the lot. There was no way we could personally use all 500 of them so we resold on eBay and kijiji. In case, income was declared under our business. However, when we bought 5 laptops (cheaper than the three we needed)., we sold the other ones, including the old ones they were replacing, and our accountant said it was fine to put it u dear personal. 

It gets a little little grey in the later part, but if you have a yearly garage sale to get ride of your stuff, then no you don't have to declare. This is because some items will sell for more some for less.

So to OP originl request, if you can find that antique item or rare toy, and resell it, it will be tax free.


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## Retired Peasant (Apr 22, 2013)

Purchase a service from a 'small supplier' - business with <=$30000 in sales. They don't have to collect HST.


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## heyjude (May 16, 2009)

Here's a handy list:

http://www.taxtips.ca/gst/whatistaxable.htm


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## Beaver101 (Nov 14, 2011)

heyjude said:


> Here's a handy list:
> 
> http://www.taxtips.ca/gst/whatistaxable.htm


 ... thanks. Interesting that music lessons are tax exempt - I would love to know how to play the drums.


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## james4beach (Nov 15, 2012)

The "wedding social" is a tradition in Manitoba. A couple who is going to get married will throw a big party as a fundraiser. There's always drinks, kubasa & cheese, rye bread, and if you're lucky, some home made perogies - http://www.socialsguide.com/whatisasocial.php

I'm not sure this qualifies as an item or service, but for some tax free fun, hit up a Manitoba social!


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## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

Anything purchased online from out of state is tax free, ideally delivered to a US address but I rarely got hit with customs *better when CAD doesn't suck

Anything purchased on a US military base is tax free and they have better variety and prices than duty free stores *also better when CAD doesn't suck


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