GST – Quiz

Background

For the first two years of his legal practice, Kuan was blissful. He never billed more than $30,000 in a year so he didn’t have to pay any attention to GST. But Kuan and his wife are expecting their first child, so he has had to increase his efforts.

On December 30 of last year, he was going over his year’s summary and processing a couple of bills to go out on December 31.

Here is what his summary showed, with details of December’s activity:

Kuan started to panic he was going to have to register and remit a wallop of GST, and he wasn’t sure how he was going to handle it.

Question

Which scenario best fits the situation that Kuan is now in? Choose one answer.

True or False: Generally, if you are not registered for GST you may not charge GST to your clients.

True or False: You must file a GST return every reporting period, even if you have no GST to remit and are not expecting a refund.

Background

Lawyer Lindsay does a lot of her work for clients who live in the United States. Most notably she assists Americans, who wish to move to Canada, to purchase property in Saskatchewan. Lindsay runs quite a real estate practice and garners approximately $25,000 in billings from her American clients alone. Her total annual billings for the last two years have been in excess of $100,000 per year.

Lindsay does not charge GST on her bills to her American clients. She figures they are not subject to Canadian taxes until they move here. Lindsay does claim input tax credits for any GST paid by her on purchases that relate to the legal services provided to her American clients. The GST auditor shows up at her door, which is a surprise.

Question

What is the most probable reason the auditor has arrived at Lindsay’s office? Choose one answer.

True or False: If you have billed your client but not yet been paid, the GST is not considered to have been collected by you for the purpose of calculating the GST to be remitted.

How should you remit GST when it is due?

Background

Assume you are not registered for GST and in the calendar quarter July to September you have billed for legal services in the amount of $29,000. On September 25 you send out a further bill that includes a fee for legal services in the amount of $4,000.

Question

Would you charge GST and, if so, on what portion of the fees for services? Choose one answer.

Select the legal services below for which you are not required to charge and collect GST.

Land registry fees, corporate registry fees, court registry fees, fines and bail are examples of what?

When preparing a bill for a client, a lawyer should: