As is often the case, first the good news. For wineries, good news arrived as the federal government removed a 3% tarriff on barrels. This will reduce the cost to wineries for new barrels by about $30 each, a small amount but every little bit helps given the escalating cost of barrels. Read the story here: Canada Drops Wine Barrel Tariff.
Bad news for agents and wineries exporting wine to British Columbia. The BC LDB and the CRA have been reviewing the reporting process for GST which the LDB has been using for many years. Previously, the LDB reported the GST credits as the notional importer of all wine entering British Columbia. As a result, agents and wineries outside Canada did not have to register for GST. The CRA\’s position is that this procedure is incorrect and that from a date to be determined (perhaps October 1st) either the foreign winery will have to report the credits and register for GST or the agent will have to take possession of the wine before it arrives in Canada and do the reporting. This is obviously a huge change and will impose monumental administrative and reporting requirements on a business that runs on slim margins to begin with.