First Nations Goods and Services Tax Act

Marginal note:Authority to impose tax

• 4 (1) Subject to this section, the governing body of a first nation that is listed in Schedule 1 and that is a band or has the power to enact laws that has been recognized or granted under any other Act of Parliament or under an agreement that has been given effect by any other Act of Parliament may enact a law that imposes

  • (a) a tax in respect of a taxable supply made on the lands of the first nation;

  • (b) a tax in respect of the bringing of tangible personal property onto the lands of the first nation from a place in Canada; and

  • (c) a tax in respect of an imported taxable supply made on the lands of the first nation.

• Marginal note:Supply made on lands

  (2) For the purposes of subsection (1), a supply, other than an imported taxable supply, is made on the lands of a first nation only if at least one of the following conditions is met:

  • (a) if the lands of the first nation were a participating province, a provision of Part IX of the Excise Tax Act would deem the supply to be made in that participating province if

    • (i) the lands of every other first nation in respect of which a first nation law, as defined in subsection 11(1) or 12(1), is in force at the time the supply is made were each a separate participating province, and

    • (ii) the participating provinces listed in Schedule VIII to the Excise Tax Act were non-participating provinces; or

  • (b) tax under Part IX of the Excise Tax Act is not payable in respect of the supply and such tax would, without section 13, be payable but for the connection of the supply with those lands and the application of the exemption under section 87 of the Indian Act or of any other exemption from taxation under any other Act of Parliament that is similar to the exemption under that section.

• Marginal note:Supply of specified motor vehicle on lands

  (3) Despite subsection (2), for the purposes of paragraph (1)(a), a supply of a specified motor vehicle by way of lease, licence or similar arrangement under an agreement under which continuous possession or use of the vehicle is provided for a period of more than three months is made on the lands of a first nation only if

  • (a) in the case of a recipient who is an individual, the recipient ordinarily resides on those lands at the time the supply is made; and

  • (b) in the case of a recipient who is not an individual, the ordinary location of the vehicle, determined for the purposes of Schedule IX to the Excise Tax Act at the time the supply is made, is on those lands.

• Marginal note:Imported taxable supply made on lands

  (4) For the purposes of paragraph (1)(c), an imported taxable supply is made on the lands of a first nation only if at least one of the following conditions is met:

  • (a) tax would be payable in respect of the imported taxable supply under subsection 218.1(1) of the Excise Tax Act if

    • (i) the lands of the first nation were the particular participating province referred to in that subsection,

    • (ii) the lands of every other first nation in respect of which a first nation law, as defined in subsection 11(1) or 12(1), is in force at the time the supply is made were each a separate participating province,

    • (iii) the participating provinces listed in Schedule VIII to the Excise Tax Act were non-participating provinces, and

    • (iv) the recipient of the supply were not a selected listed financial institution; or

  • (b) tax under Part IX of the Excise Tax Act is not payable in respect of the imported taxable supply and such tax would, without section 13, be payable but for the connection of the supply with those lands and the application of the exemption under section 87 of the Indian Act or of any other exemption from taxation under any other Act of Parliament that is similar to the exemption under that section.

• Marginal note:Bringing of property onto lands

  (5) Subject to subsection (6), a tax in respect of the bringing of property onto the lands of a first nation by a person shall be imposed under a law of the first nation enacted under subsection (1) only if the property was last supplied to the person by way of sale at a time when an administration agreement was in effect in respect of that law and tax would have been payable under Part IX of the Excise Tax Act in respect of the supply otherwise than at the rate of zero but for the application of the exemption under section 87 of the Indian Act or of any other exemption from taxation under any other Act of Parliament that is similar to the exemption under that section.

• Marginal note:Exception

  (6) For the purposes of paragraph (1)(b), a tax in respect of the bringing of property onto the lands of a first nation by a person shall not be imposed if

  • (a) tax became payable by the person in respect of the property under any first nation law, as defined in subsection 11(1) or 12(1), or section 212 of the Excise Tax Act before the property is brought onto the lands of the first nation; or

  • (b) tax would not be payable under subsection 220.05(1) of the Excise Tax Act in respect of the bringing of the property onto the lands of the first nation if

    • (i) the lands of the first nation were the particular participating province referred to in that subsection,

    • (ii) the lands of every other first nation in respect of which a first nation law, as defined in subsection 11(1) or 12(1), is in force at the time the property is brought onto the lands of the first nation were each a separate participating province,

    • (iii) the participating provinces listed in Schedule VIII to the Excise Tax Act were non-participating provinces, and

    • (iv) paragraphs 220.05(3)(a) and (b) of the Excise Tax Act, section 18 of Part I of Schedule X to that Act, the exemption under section 87 of the Indian Act and any other exemption from taxation under any other Act of Parliament that is similar to the exemption under that section did not apply in respect of the bringing of the property onto the lands of the first nation.

• Marginal note:Carriers

  (7) For the purposes of this Part, if a particular person brings property onto the lands of a first nation on behalf of another person, the other person, and not the particular person, is deemed to have brought the property onto those lands.

• Marginal note:Amount of tax — bringing of property onto lands

  (8) For the purposes of subsection (1), the amount of tax that may be imposed under the law of a first nation in respect of the bringing of property onto the lands of the first nation by a person is equal to the amount determined by the formula

  A × B

  where

  A

  is the rate of tax set out in subsection 165(1) of the Excise Tax Act, and

  B

  is

  • (a) if the person last acquired the property by way of a sale under which the property was delivered to the person within thirty days before the day on which it is brought onto the lands of the first nation, the value of the consideration on which tax under Part IX of the Excise Tax Act in respect of the sale would have been calculated but for the application of the exemption under section 87 of the Indian Act or of any other exemption from taxation under any other Act of Parliament that is similar to the exemption under that section, and

  • (b) in any other case, the lesser of

    • (i) the fair market value of the property at the time the property is brought onto the lands of the first nation, and

    • (ii) the value of the consideration referred to in paragraph (a).

• Marginal note:Reporting and payment of tax

  (9) Tax that is imposed under a law of a first nation enacted under subsection (1) in respect of the bringing of property onto the lands of the first nation shall become payable by the person who brings it onto the lands at the time it is brought onto the lands and

  • (a) if the person is a registrant who acquired the property for consumption, use or supply primarily in the course of commercial activities of the person, the person shall, on or before the day on or before which the person’s return in respect of net tax is required to be filed under the law of the first nation for the reporting period in which the tax became payable,

    • (i) report the tax in that return, and

    • (ii) pay the tax to the Receiver General, or, if the law of the first nation is administered by the government of a province under an agreement entered into under section 7 of the Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Act, to the appropriate minister for that province; and

  • (b) in any other case, the person shall, on or before the last day of the month following the calendar month in which the tax became payable,

    • (i) file with the Minister of National Revenue or, if the law of the first nation is administered by the government of a province under an agreement entered into under section 7 of the Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Act, with the appropriate minister for that province a return in respect of the tax, in the manner and in the form authorized by the Minister of National Revenue and containing information specified by that Minister, and

    • (ii) pay the tax to the Receiver General or to the appropriate minister for that province, as the case may be.

• Marginal note:Amount of tax — supply made on lands

  (10) For the purposes of paragraphs (1)(a) and (c), the amount of tax that may be imposed under the law of a first nation in respect of a supply is equal to the amount of tax that would be imposed under Part IX of the Excise Tax Act in respect of that supply if

  • (a) the Excise Tax Act applied and the law of the first nation, the exemption under section 87 of the Indian Act and any other exemption from taxation under any other Act of Parliament that is similar to the exemption under that section did not apply in respect of that supply;

  • (b) the amount were determined without reference to subparagraph (v) of the description of A or subparagraph (vi) of the description of J in the definition basic tax content in subsection 123(1) of the Excise Tax Act; and

  • (c) no amount of tax under subsection 165(2), 212.1(2) or 218.1(1) or Division IV.1 of Part IX of the Excise Tax Act were included in determining that amount.

• Marginal note:Administration and enforcement

  (11) A law enacted under subsection (1) by the governing body of a first nation shall be administered and enforced, and the tax imposed under that law shall be collected, in accordance with an administration agreement entered into under subsection 11(2) by the authorized body of the first nation.