On January 22, 2021, the Federal Court of Appeal concluded that the service provided by Visa to the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) was an exempt supply of a “financial service” as defined under the Excise Tax Act2 (ETA). As a result, CIBC was entitled to the rebate applications it filed for GST/HST paid in error on fees charged by Visa from 2003 to 2013 (Fees). As virtually every business in Canada deals with payment processors, this key decision sheds more light on what distinguishes a financial service from a service merely administrative in nature.
Source: dentons.com
