travel_buoy

Judy and everyone have been more than thorough in their explanation of GST rebates and I have printed the form from the official website. Since we're staying at the Springs for our 20 year reenactment of the original elopement (although hopefully in a larger room), I think I'll be eager to get the visitor's rebate of GST based on that bill alone. And combining Laura's power shopping urges with next week's forecast, we'll be shopping more than canoeing or hiking. Would someone kindly tell me approximately where the GST rebate office is at Calgary airport? "Kiosk - Departures level next to US Departures area" is all I can find online so far. Thanks in advance.

Judy_in_Calgary

Hi travel_buoy,

Congrats on your 20th anniversary.

If Laura does not buy anything after all, you will not need to locate the GST rebate office, because hotel receipts do not need to be stamped.

However, if Laura DOES buy something, the description that you found is adequate. The check-in counters for US-bound flights are grouped together on the departures level. As the description says, the GST kiosk is opposite those counters.

If you REALLY want to see where the GST kiosk is located on a map, you can go here:

http://www.calgaryairport.com/maps/d...arturesmap.cfm

You can use the + and – symbols near the bottom right hand corner of the map to zoom in and zoom out. You also can rest your mouse pointer on the map and then drag the map from left to right and up and down. The check-in counters for US departures are just to the right of centre, just to the right of the big letter C and also to the right of the duty free shop. If you zoom in you will see, just inside the airport building, between the area I’ve just described and the area marked valet service, a gold dot with blue letters GST over it.

There SHOULD be someone in the GST kiosk when you check in. But, just IN CASE there is no one there, here is a Plan B. Catch an elevator or an escalator from the departures level on the second floor to the arrivals level on the ground floor. Go to the door through which arriving passengers are entering the airport complex from international flights. Those passengers will have just been through Canadian customs. Ask to speak to a customs agent. When the customs agent has stamped your receipts, return to the departures level.

Here is a map of the arrivals level. The doors through which arriving international passengers walk are near the big letter C.

http://www.calgaryairport.com/maps/dsp_arrivalsmap.cfm

In case Plan B does not work either, here is Plan C. When you get home, write a letter to the folks at Revenue Canada Agency explaining what happened at the airport and enclosing your receipts. I have heard of travellers who have received GST rebates with no questions asked when they have done that.

Neither Plan B nor Plan C should be necessary. But when one travels it is prudent to hope for the best and plan for the worst.

travel_buoy

Thanks, Judy. Didn't realize hotel receipts don't need to be stamped. However, Laura not buying anything is about as probable as me getting sunburned from northern lights next week ...

red101

Hi. We have just returned from our trip to Canada, flying out from Calgary. Although the GST office/kiosk in small you should have no trouble finding it from the directions given earlier.
I think also that only receipts for individual items over $250 have to be stamped, anything less that that does not have to be stamped.

Judy_in_Calgary

>>>>>>I think also that only receipts for individual items over $250 have to be stamped, anything less that that does not have to be stamped.<<<<<<

<b>Every</b> receipt for eligible goods that you export from Canada has to be stamped.

Each receipt for eligible goods has to show a total purchase amount (before taxes) of at least C$50.

The total of all your receipts for eligible goods and eligible short-term accommodation (before taxes) has to reach a minimum of C$200 before you can submit a claim for a GST rebate.

The full scoop on the relevant page of Canada Rvenue Agency's website is here:

http://tinyurl.com/hcoxz

Judy_in_Calgary

Postscript. As I said earlier in this thread, receipts for short-term accommodation do <b>not</b> have to be stamped. Only receipts for eligible goods that you are exporting from Canada have to be stamped.

tom22

I recommend to be carefull with the GST rabate offices located at the airport. There are several private companies offering GST rebate services to external visitors and they look very similar to the official tax refund office, but they will charge you with a service fee (15% to 30% of the tax refund).

The official tax refund is free of charge and you can find the formulars under

http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tax/nonresi.../gsthst-e.html

red101

&lt;&lt;&lt;&lt;&lt;Every receipt for eligible goods that you export from Canada has to be stamped&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;

I was told by the lady in the GST kiosk at the airport only 2 weeks ago(government, not private) that for eligible goods only receipts of more than $50 can be submitted, and only have to be stamped if an item is over $250, so for example if you had 5 items for $50 each on one receipt then you don't need to have the receipt stamped. As it was I didn't buy anything over this amount anyway.

I must admit she wasn't very helpful, and I went back 3 times to clarify what I could and couldn't submit, and what should be stamped!

Judy_in_Calgary

Thank you for the clarification, red101. Your account motivated me to read the government's website more carefully. For the first time I noticed this statement:

<i>The Visitor Rebate Program will accept a boarding pass/carrier ticket as Proof of Export for individual eligible goods with a purchase price of less than $250.00 (before taxes).</i>

I've heard several reports to the effect that the people who staff the GST rebate kiosks are unhelpful. It's almost as if they are grudging about the GST rebate program for visitors, hope visitors will not find out about it and, if they do, make it difficult for them to claim it. Or at least one could be excused for drawing that conclusion from their behaviour.

travel_buoy

This has gotten more complex than I could have imagined (but then the government is involved). So now Laura has an incentive to bargain while shopping, first converting Canadian dollars into US dollars to consider the relative value of the purchase, then subtracting the GST rebate but remembering that if the unit price is over CN$250 that we have to hunt down that unhelpful lady in the GST booth for her stamp of approval. I pity the poor artisan who has priced anything from CN$250 to CN$300 next week....

Thanks to all for the clarification but please do something about the snow in the forecast.