joee

While in Canada, an employed in our hotel gave us a form and envelope to submit our receipts for a tax refund.

Now that I'm filling it out, I see it's sent to a place in New York. They also will take 20% or $10 (whichever is less) as the processing fee. I have a feeling this is NOT the official canadian way to obtain a refund -- am I right?

If this is a just a money-making company, then can someone tell me where exactly to send my receipts directly to Canada?

Thanks.

Mark

This is the URL for the Canadian government's visitors tax rebate program. Covers just about everything and has a Q&A email facility as well.


http://www.ccra-adrc.gc.ca/visitors/

joee

Thanks! So this company is bogus then?

cindy

Your instincts are correct, joee. It is a commercial operation that takes off a hefty percentage of your refund--good for you for noticing the difference!

(Personally I find it galling that a hotel employee would give you that form instead of the "official" government form, Perhaps he/she really didn't know the difference, but if anyone should know, it would be a hotel employee!)
Mark gave you the correct info--You can file the claim yourself and get a refund in a US $ check(takes a few weeks)

Jonathan

These commercial tax refund companies are not a scam. You can find them in virtually every country that has a VAT-like refundable tax. I'm not familiar with the company you're referring to, but these companies can be found in malls, airports etc throughout Canada. What you are doing is trading off a % of your tax entitlement for an instant or almost instant refund. If you apply to the official tax refund office, the wait for your refund is several months. Some people would rather forego 20 or 30% for an instant refund.