Mobility HST calculation

[Carey1]

I live in Alberta (GST 5%). I moved from Ontario and took my (613) number with me. Telus is charging me 13% HST (Ontario tx) because my phone has a 613 number.

According to CRA 'To know which GST/HST rate to charge, a supplier has to know what type of supply they are making and where the supply is being made. The place where a supply is made is referred to as the place of supply.'. I am in AB. The place of supply is AB. They have been overcharging me 8% per month for years. (I just caught it).

Their help lines are useless as this problem is not in their books. Any idea how I can talk to their legal/accounting dept or anyone else that can help.

more and more people are taking their mobile numbers with them when they switch Provinces. Should I be contacting CRA to audit Telus?

Comments?

[rc]

You will find that all the mobile phone companies charge gst or hst based on the area code that the mobile phone is registered in. I believe the rational is that the phone has no fixed address so they use the area code to assign tax jurisdiction. 

[rc · Accepted solution]

This is the BC Government policy with respect to PST on Mobile Electronic Devices

Mobile electronic devices, such as mobile phones, are considered to be ordinarily situated in BC if they are assigned a BC area code (e.g. 250, 604, 778, 236).

So if a resident of BC has a mobile phone with an Alberta area code they will be charged GST on the phone. If the phone had an Ontario area code then they would be charged HST.

An mobile phone with an Ontario area code will be charge HST, the billing address for the account is not relevant.

A relevant reddit discussion thread.

https://www.reddit.com/r/PersonalFinanceCanada/comments/cv2x5t/for_those_who_have_an_outofprovince_p...

[NFtoBC]

Of curiosity, what is the address of record for the account? Usually, telcos require the telephone number assigned to a device reflect your local address.