Canada GST vs PST

[Glen Hoddinott]

My question relates to charging GST when the total $ amount on your invoice is not merely labour fees.

I am a residential deck and patio contractor. I purchase materials, blueprints, permits, sub-trades, etc. on behalf of my customers. Those totals, as well as my labour charges, get added to the total amount of the invoice that I submit to the customer.

My question is this;

When calculating GST for that invoice, do I apply the additional 5% GST charge to the entire Invoice or just to the labour portion of the bill?

In addition, am I able to use any of those charges for tax deduction purposes or are those not considered eligible as tax deductions since I have already been fully compensated for those expenses by the customer?

I am currently interviewing qualified accountants to try to find someone that i trust, but in the meantime any knowledgable input on this would be extremely helpful.

Thanks in advance!

 

[YKi]

Hi, I am an intern but we have client similar to you in Toronto.
Are you using GST quick method first of all? If you are, then only the sales portion matters when filing your HST return.
If you are not, my experience is that you charge it on all, then bill your client with the total cost and the materials supplies. This will simplify your book.