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Taxes on device balance

Stephanie_
Just Moved In
So this came as news to me when I got my bill, I didn’t realize that you are charged taxes on your device balance. So when you think your device balance remaining is what the app or your bill says, think again. It will be taxed at the rate for your province. 13% in Manitoba. Why this isn’t built in to your device balance so you aren’t fooled is beyond me. You will find this information no where to my knowledge except on your next bill. The rep at TELUS mentioned a number of times your next bill will have $35 for the activation fee, the balance of $460 for my iPhone 8 when I upgraded to the XR for $0 and the adjustment for my plan. I sold my iPhone 8 for $400 and paid it towards my account in advance and thought my bill would be no big deal. Wrong. The taxes on the $460 is nothing to sneeze at and I wasn’t expecting it. I get we’re in Canada and we pay taxes on everything but it was deceiving to me. Especially when it appears you don’t pay tax at all if you pay it over the entire contracts. Lesson learned, just a little FYI.
1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION

Lola
Rockstar

Yes, because you're paying the balance of the phone subsidy, in essence you're buying the phone outright, and phones are taxable items. This has been discussed for years on other forums.

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3 REPLIES 3

Lola
Rockstar

Yes, because you're paying the balance of the phone subsidy, in essence you're buying the phone outright, and phones are taxable items. This has been discussed for years on other forums.

Thanks Lola. After searching Telus help files, Telus forums and Google I still couldn’t find anything. Guess I should hang out in forums more often.

It's on the Koodo forum. One of my daughters had Koodo for a while. Koodo tab balances are taxed when paid early. I suggest never paying a device balance, it's just throwing money away. But if you do a tablet payment plan, you can pay that off early if you like, because for that you pay the purchase taxes when you begin the payment plan.