Don't forget to apply for a tax rebate from Canadian lodgings and goods purchases. Pick up a form at any tourist information center. U.S. citizens can be reimbursed for taxes by filling out the form and sending original receipts.

I have filled out the form a couple of times,but it takes a long time to get your money. Fortunately the check is in US dollars.

Some of the border stations have a duty free shop with a bureau that will give you the refund as you leave Canada. The only one I know of for sure
is on the road from Calgary to Great Falls, MT.
I believe the station is called Coutts.

You can get the form at the front desk of your hotel. Just save all of your receipts (except meals). I received my refund check in about two weeks. It was certainly worth the wait.

There is NO refund of the tax on lodgings or meals. We found that out after carefully keeping all of our receipts. We got our GST refund right at the border as we were leaving Canada.

If you're going to the province of Quebec, there's a 7 percent Federal tax (GST) on most goods and services and a 7-1/2 percent Quebec provincial tax on all goods and services. Non-residents can receive a refund of the GST on most goods (there are a few exceptions) purchased for use outside Canada, and on short-term accomodations. You are entitled to a refund of the provincial tax only on purchases exceeding $100.

I was surprised the tax rebate was not mentioned in the travel book we used. Nor was it mentioned by the staff at the hotel front desk. Only because a clerk in a gift shop mentioned it were we aware of the available rebate on lodging and on goods valued at $50 or more per item. What no one warned about is that, if you leave Canada by plane, ferry, bus, or train, you must submit a receipt for that conveyance. Fortunately, I was able to locate the receipt for our exit of Canada via ferry. If you drive a car back to the UAS, you must have receipts for lodging and goods validated prior to leaving Canada. While our rebate will amount to only about $21 US dollars, I am still surprised that the process is not better publicized.

I guess the rebate isn't well published because it means the government will have to return money to you! That seems contrary to what governments usually want to do!

I would disagree that the refund is not mentioned in tour guides. And, where we stay, they print a special copy of our bill just for submitting with the form they also provide. Anyone visiting Canada should go to http://www.rc.gc.ca/visitors/

Taxingtommy is incorrect. You can receive GST back on lodging as long as it's for less than one month.

I would just like to correct a point made by Richard. The rebate is only on receipts for goods that total $50 or more before the usual GST is added. So you can buy 10 $5.00 items and you will get your tax back on that receipt. The rebate is also applicable to lodgings that you book yourself that are over $50.00 but not on those booked through your travel agent. I live in Australia and I find I usually get my refund within 8 weeks. I have no problem waiting for money!

Anne in Austalia

Hate to belabour the subject..but what if you do major shopping of over $100.00 (which I'm hoping to) and we are on a cruise ship....

To the top for the Comptons.

Someone mentioned a there was a website for learning about the tax rebate from Canada. What is the website?

Web site is http://www.rc.gc.ca/visitors/

Hi!, just returned from qu, crossed the border in Vt. The tax rebate will be changing as of 10/31/00 to only include the federal portion, until then however you can still recieve rebates on purchases of >50.00 and total has to be>or equal to 200. If you are making frequent visits I was told the reciepts are good for 1 year (if stamped at customs)so you can save them to make a total of 200.00. Also at the border crossings there are duty free shops to get instant rebates so you don't have to mail in. Have fun!

If you're planning on mailing in your refund application when you get home, be careful to avoid using a form by a company called "National". I picked up their official-looking form at the Montreal airport rather than the official government form. Luckily I read their form very carefully - they charge 20% for their service. A total rip-off.

To the top for John

Excellent point, Brian. Many of these "services" make their very official-looking brochures available in tourist guides, airport racks, etc. It's a rip-off of the first order. Go to the website that Donna and Elizabeth have kindly posted. You'll need Adobe acrocrobat to read/print the form -- but it's easy to do. Again, the biggees include LODGING and any receipts you have for purchases that total more than $50 on one receipt. Rental cars and meals are the major excluded items. Frankly, I have no idea why they have this program but I've received the refund a number of times. I would say it takes 6-8 weeks, typically.

We had planned to get our GST refund before departing Vancouver airport, on our way back to Australia. Unfortunately there is no facility there to do this (I had been told otherwise) so we applied once we were back home, via the government scheme. The cheque took about 6 weeks to arrive and was in CAN$. We had to pay a bank fee to transfer to Aust$ but still came out ahead about CAN$90 on a 3 week holiday. We were very happy!
Kay

Susan is right...this is absolutely maddening. What a rigamarole to go through for $20 bucks!!! And to think, I had my TA make the res for lodging in Vancouver (even though I found the hotel, I wanted to be nice and make sure she got the commission). So now my lodging tax is non-refundable ....forget it!