Farm PST Exemptions: The Records a Regina Supplier Needs

Make the exemption reason easy to retrieve

Saskatchewan’s farm bulletin distinguishes specified farm items from items requiring certification of qualifying use. Keep the relevant product description and, where required, completed certification with the transaction. A generic account flag saying farmer does not explain a sale months later.

At a Regina agricultural supplier, the order record can contain a model or part number, purchaser details, intended use and the reference to the supporting document. If one sale contains several kinds of item, preserve the line detail. A workshop consumable or general business purchase should not inherit another item’s exemption automatically.

Worked example: a mixed purchase at the counter

Illustrative example: a customer buys an $18,000 item verified as qualifying for PST exemption and $700 of separate goods verified as taxable. PST on the taxable goods is $42. That result depends on the actual classification and supporting evidence; the dollar value does not establish eligibility. GST is assessed separately.

The invoice records the two groups distinctly and links the exemption evidence to the $18,000 item. If the $700 group were incorrectly included in a blanket exempt customer code, the PST discrepancy would be $42. A weekly exception check can detect that coding problem before it spreads to repeated transactions.

Review changes and returns as carefully as the first sale

An item substitution, changed use or corrected invoice can make the original record incomplete. Link the replacement product or credit note to the original transaction and retain the explanation. Staff should know which uncertainties require approval instead of feeling pressure to promise an exemption at the till.

For rural service providers, the customer’s farming activity and the contractor’s own activity are separate questions. The exemption decision should reflect the supplied item or service, with provincial confirmation sought where the facts do not fit the published category.

A short evidence checklist

Ask the business to identify who approves exemption coding and who follows up incomplete documents. This makes the procedure useful during busy spring and harvest periods, when missing records are easiest to overlook.

• Identify the item and the exemption category being relied on.
• Retain required purchaser certification or equivalent supporting information.
• Separate taxable lines and record the independent GST treatment.
• Connect returns, substitutions and later corrections to the original invoice.

Put this into practice

• Equipment and parts bookkeeping →
• Track product movement →
• Keep GST zero-rating separate →