Bill 4 explained in plain English
Retail Sales Tax Amendment Act (HST Rebate for Home Heating), 2011
Ontario legislature bill summary, status, timeline, sponsor, votes, and official sources.
At a glance
Official Legislative Assembly of Ontario snapshot for 40th Parliament, 1st Session. Representative vote breakdowns appear when the Assembly publishes an Ayes and Nays page for the bill.
Our plain-language take, written for civic education.
Source: By PoliticalData.ca
This bill proposes to amend Ontario's Retail Sales Tax Act to create a rebate for the Ontario portion of HST paid on certain home heating energy sources, equipment, and services, subject to an agreement with Canada and regulations.
Bill 4, the Retail Sales Tax Amendment Act (HST Rebate for Home Heating), 2011, proposes to amend the Retail Sales Tax Act. The purpose is to allow for a rebate of the Ontario portion of the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) on certain home heating costs. This rebate would apply to energy sources, equipment, and services used for home heating. The bill specifies that this rebate is contingent on an amendment to the Comprehensive Integrated Tax Coordination Agreement between Ontario and Canada. The Lieutenant Governor in Council would be empowered to make regulations to define what qualifies for the rebate, including specific energy sources, equipment, and services, and to establish rules for calculating the rebate amount in cases of mixed use (e.g., heating and other purposes). The bill also provides for the process of applying for the rebate if a supplier does not provide it and outlines that certain existing provisions of the Retail Sales Tax Act will apply to these rebates. The Act comes into force on a date to be proclaimed by the Lieutenant Governor.
- Amends the Retail Sales Tax Act to allow for rebates on the Ontario portion of the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) for home heating.
- Enables rebates for home heating energy sources, equipment, and related services.
- Requires the Comprehensive Integrated Tax Coordination Agreement between Ontario and Canada to be amended for the rebate to apply.
- Gives the Lieutenant Governor in Council the authority to create regulations to define eligible items and services for the rebate and to set rules for calculating the rebate amount.
- Allows individuals to apply to the Federal Minister for a rebate if the supplier does not provide it.
- Specifies that certain sections of the Retail Sales Tax Act will apply to these rebates.
- Ontario residents who purchase home heating energy sources, equipment, or services.
- Suppliers of home heating energy sources, equipment, and services in Ontario.
- The Government of Ontario.
- The Government of Canada (related to the HST and tax agreements).
- Suppliers have the right to provide rebates for the Ontario portion of HST on home heating costs on behalf of the Crown.
- Purchasers have the right to receive these rebates from suppliers, or to apply to the Federal Minister if the supplier does not provide the rebate.
- The Act comes into force on a day to be named by proclamation of the Lieutenant Governor.
- Potential reduction in tax collected by the Province of Ontario through HST rebates on home heating expenses.
- The bill allows for rebates of tax paid or payable under subsection 165 (2) of the Federal Act.
- The bill states that subsections 51 (6) through (10) of the Retail Sales Tax Act apply, with necessary modifications, to payments or credits authorized under this new section. The specific details of enforcement or penalties related to these subsections are not provided in this text.
- The bill's application is conditional on amendments to the Comprehensive Integrated Tax Coordination Agreement between Ontario and Canada.
- The specific energy sources, equipment, and services eligible for the rebate are not listed in the bill text; they will be defined by regulations made by the Lieutenant Governor in Council.
- The exact amount of the rebate in certain situations (e.g., mixed use of energy sources or services) will be determined by regulations.
- The date the Act comes into force is not specified and will be determined by proclamation.
Introduces a new section (51.0.1) to establish a rebate program for the Ontario portion of HST related to home heating. It also states that certain existing subsections of Section 51 of the Act will apply to these new rebates.
Source: Section 1
The rebate program established by this bill can only be implemented if this agreement is amended to permit the payments and credits related to the rebate.
Source: Section 51.0.1 (2)
The bill refers to subsection 165 (2) of the Federal Act for the purpose of calculating the HST amount that can be rebated.
Source: Section 51.0.1 (1), 51.0.1 (6) (b)
Defines "supplier" and "supply" by referring to their definitions within Part IX of the Federal Act.
Source: Section 51.0.1 (1)
Generated using AI from official bill text. Not legal advice. It is written by PoliticalData.ca for civic education, automatically checked and spot-reviewed before publishing.
Official textProcess Snapshot
Vote Summary
This bill is still active. We only show vote counts after the legislature publishes a recorded division.
No published representative vote breakdown
This bill is still moving through the process. When a recorded division is published, representative positions can be listed here.
Official sources
Status, sponsor, votes, and timeline on this page are drawn from these official legislative sources and public records. Each summary above is attributed to its own source.
How this data is sourced