Overview

In 2024, the federal government created a GST Holdiday on selected types of inventory that would help families over the holidays.  With the change, Canadian businesses are expected to remove the GST/HST on qualifying goods at checkout as of December 14, 2024 to February 14th, 2025. 


A recorded webinar and a downloadable guide is available at 
https://webinars.windwardsoftware.com/archives/preparing-for-the-gst-holiday-in-canada 




Please review the section that pertains to your specific situation:

Tax Rate Change Scenario

Review the Qualifying Goods to ensure ALL your inventory being sold would qualify for the proposed tax relief.  If all your inventory qualifies then add two new tax rates.  One to take the rate to 0% on December 14th, 2024.  The second to bring the tax back to the GST/HST rate for your province or territory on February 15th, 2025.

⚠️ Be extremely careful adjusting tax rates that are highlighted in red as these indicate they are in use.  Changing rates that are red in color could cause invoice tax errors. If you are unsure contact Windward Software technical support.
  1. You'll need user privileges that can adjust setup Wizard settings.
  2. From the Menu navigate to Setup Tools and choose "Setup Wizard".
  3.  Choose Taxes from the left navigation.
  4. GST is typically configured as Tax 2 and HST as Tax 3.
  5. Click on the bottom of the tax grid to add a new rate.
  6. Change the new rate Effective date to December 14th at a 0% tax rate.
  7. Add another new line for February 16th (the day after the last day of tax relief) and set the rate to your GST or HST for your province or territory.
  8. When making a sale between December 14th and before February 15th the 0% rate will be applied.


Small Manual Blended Tax Rate Change Scenario

When reviewing the qualifying goods, if you have a small segment of your inventory that would qualify for the proposed tax relief.  It would be best to not adjust the tax rate table as you need the tax to collect and remit tax during the period.  You will need to adjusted the tax status of the inventory that would qualify for tax relief.  This manual method is best for a small batch of inventory that qualifies for tax relief.


You can do this manually on an inventory-item basis.  

  1. From the Sales menu choose Inventory and "Edit Item".
  2. Search for an inventory item that is to be marked as tax-free.
  3. When in the inventory item choose "Taxes".
  4. Uncheck the GST or HST on the inventory item.
  5. You can also use the Previous and Next buttons to quickly scroll through your inventory
  6. Use the Small dropdown menu on the Next button to pick the sort for scrolling through your inventory that may need adjusting.
  7. At the end of day on February 14th, 2025.  You will need to reverse these tax changes by following the same steps to edit your inventory and check the box for the GST or HST.

Manual Change Tax at Point Of Sale

If you have a very small amount of inventory OR an inventory item got missed and does qualify for tax exemption.  Your sales clerk can also override any taxation on a line-by-line basis.

  1. From the F4 Items tab on an invoice.
  2. Highlight the line that needs to be tax-exempt.
  3. Click on the "Taxes" button in the right-hand banner.
  4. Uncheck the GST or HST value in the "Tax Tool" screen.
  5. The invoice tax value and total will reflect the tax being removed.
  6. To reverse the tax change.  Follow the same steps and check the box for the GST or HST.

Professional Assistance on Large Blended Tax Rate Change Scenario

When reviewing the qualifying goods if you have a large mix of inventory being sold that would qualify for the proposed tax relief.  This solution is best when the data entry for adjusting does not make sense or if your team does not have the time.  Contact your account manager for a solution quote for assistance from our professional services team.  Our team can assist you with adjusting taxes in bulk using methods such as:

  • Exporting the taxable status of your inventory using the "Print Inventor Report" and importing using the Part Load functionality.
  • If you have inventory in specific categories or sold by specific suppliers.  Using the "Adjust inventory included in this report" checkbox when listing inventory in the "Print Inventory Report".