Can we buy from Calgary and not pay PST if we live elsewhere?

[setell]

Hi, I was wondering if you guys can help me out with a sticky situation. My bf decided to get the canon 5D and a bunch of other camera equipment from Vistek and placed a phone order to their Calgary store. I had personally talked to the manager before I made the order that we would be paying the GST only even though we live in NS. We were willing to pay the courier fee since saving the 8% PST is a lot of money. At first they were very bad with their service. I placed the order last Wednesday after 4pm so they should have sent it first thing Thursday and we'll get it on Friday. By the time Friday afternoon came, we got nothing. We didn't even get the email with the tracking number like I had asked. I called them up and I couldn't believe it when they told me our order wasn't even processed. The guy that took our order was out sick and nobody even knew we placed a very LARGE order. It amazes me how nobody bothered to contact us about anything. So we then gave them an hour or so to find order info blah blah and to have it shipped. Called them back and then they tell us that they can't ship it because the credit card holder isn't my bf but his dad and the credit card holder address and shipping address isn't the same when it is the same! errrrrrrrr Did I tell you guys that the original sales guy (that's apparently sick) had already talked to my boyfriend's dad on the phone as confirmation and authorization. My bf tells them to call asap if there are more problems.

Now Monday afternoon and no package since if they got everything they needed then it should be sent before 4pm on Friday. My bf just calls them up and finds out that they won't ship it since we're in NS and they need to charge us HST rather than just the GST. What kind of ******** is this? I was always under the impression that they don't need to charge us HST but am I correct to assum this or is Vistek giving us crap reasons for not selling to us?

[cipher]

I think that technically they ARE supposed to collect the PST and submit it to your provincial government. I have a friend who works for the Province of Manitoba and he goes on trips to other provinces and audits the records of those who do sales to Manitoba residents to ensure that they collect the PST and are submitting them to the Manitoba Government.

[KsprayDad]

Interprovincial trade....from Vistek's point of view (taken from About article)

“If I am selling taxable goods and/or services through a Web site to people in other provinces, do I have to charge and remit other province’s sales taxes?” is one of the most common questions about ecommerce.

This article explains how to handle provincial sales taxes (PST) on your online sales.

We can’t talk about provincial sales tax (PST), though, without talking about GST. Generally, if you are selling taxable goods and/or services to people in Canada, you will be charging and remitting GST to the federal government. (You will not charge GST on taxable goods and/or services shipped to people in other countries, such as the U.S.)

Many small business owners are aware that you don’t have to charge and remit the GST if you are a small supplier.

However, there seems to be a general misconception that the concept of being a small supplier also applies to PST – which is not true. Whether or not you have to register for and collect PST has nothing to do with the size of your business or the volume of your sales. It’s just a matter of whether or not you’re selling taxable goods and/or services.

Even if you do qualify as a GST small supplier, if you are taking orders from and shipping goods to customers in other provinces, you will want to voluntarily register for GST because of Harmonized Sales Taxes (HST). If you are selling and shipping goods into the HST provinces (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Newfoundland and Labrador), you’re going to have to collect GST anyhow as it’s part of HST. (Here's how to register for the GST.)

So that’s three provinces where you will have to collect provincial sales tax, so to speak, as it’s part of the HST. You will also definitely have to charge and remit the provincial sales tax (a.k.a. PST, retail sales tax, or RST) in your “home” province if you are selling taxable goods and/or services. (Because of the complexity of what’s taxable and what’s not, you should check the PST rules in your province. See PST/RST for a list of provincial Web sites and information.)

So so far, in terms of taxes on your online sales, you are responsible for collecting and remitting:

HST for Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland/Labrador
GST for B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, P.E.I., Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Yukon
PST/RST for orders shipped to customers in your own province (unless your “home” province or territory is Alberta, the Northwest Territories, Nunavut or Yukon which have no PST/RST)
But what about the others? The consensus seems to be that the various provincial governments want out-of-province vendors (such as those who run Web sites and ship things to customers in their provinces) to register for, collect and remit the applicable provincial sales taxes. Some provinces have enshrined this demand in legislation whereas others are just politely asking, pointing out that it would be a convenience to consumers in their provinces.

[setell]

hmmm guess I'll have to pay HST no matter where I order from :( What I do know is I am so mad at Vistek that I won't be ordering from them anytime soon. Such bad service.