Status Card Tax Exemption
If you hold a federal Certificate of Indian Status card, you may not have to pay the full 13% HST on your Broadband North bill. We apply the relief directly to your invoice, so you do not have to pay the tax and then claim it back from the government every month.
What you pay
• Service at an address on reserve, status card holder: 0% — no GST or HST
• Service at an address off reserve in Ontario, status card holder: 5% — the federal portion only
• Everyone else, including most businesses: 13% HST
The Ontario Ministry of Finance lists internet, cable television and phone service among the goods and services eligible for the First Nations point-of-sale rebate (Ontario Ministry of Finance).
Who qualifies
You qualify if you:
• hold a federal Certificate of Indian Status card, or a federal Temporary Confirmation of Registration Document; and
• live in Ontario, or live in Canada on the Akwesasne reserve; and
• are buying the service for your own personal use.
Bands and band councils of an Ontario First Nations reserve also qualify.
What does not qualify
• A band card or a Métis card. Ontario does not accept either for this rebate.
• A photocopy of a Temporary Confirmation of Registration Document. It has to be the original document with the raised seal.
• An account in a company's name, even a company owned by a status card holder. The rebate is for personal use. Bands and band councils are the exception.
What we need from you
Three things:
1. Your 10-digit registry number
2. A photo or scan of the front of your card
3. A photo or scan of the back of your card
We need both sides because the card number and your photograph are not on the same side.
The Canada Revenue Agency does not accept a registry number typed into a web form as proof on its own when a customer signs up online or by phone, which is why we ask for the images (Canada Revenue Agency).
Requesting tax relief
Please submit BBN’s online Status Verification for Tax Relief form and the supporting documents identified in the form. BBN will separately verify your eligibility and the tax treatment applicable to your Service.
We may contact you if additional information is needed to establish identity, registration status, the relevant service location or another eligibility requirement.
Never email or write your card number, bank account, or credit card details to us in the same message as anything else. For card payments, use the secure link on your invoice.
What happens after you submit
While verification is pending, invoices may include applicable taxes. Once verification is complete, any tax charged on supplies confirmed as eligible for relief will be credited on your next invoice, and the appropriate tax treatment will be applied going forward.
We will contact you if anything needs clarifying, and we will tell you when the relief has been applied.
How we protect your card information
We use your registry number and card images for one purpose only: to establish and support your entitlement to tax relief, and to meet our own tax record-keeping obligations.
• The files travel over an encrypted connection and are stored in access-restricted systems.
• Only the Broadband North staff who administer billing and tax status can see them.
• We do not share them with any third party, and we do not use them for marketing, credit checks, or any other kind of identity check.
• We keep them for seven years from the end of the calendar year the sale relates to, which is longer than the minimum the Canada Revenue Agency requires, and then destroy them securely.
You can ask to see, correct, or remove your card images at any time by writing to privacy@broadbandnorth.com. If you withdraw your consent we can no longer support the relief, so full HST will apply from that date forward. See our Privacy Policy for more.
Keeping your relief in place
Please notify BBN of changes to your account, service location or eligibility that may affect the tax treatment. For example:
• If you move, tell us right away. Moving between an on-reserve and an off-reserve address changes the tax that applies to your bill.
• If your account changes from personal to business use, tell us. Business accounts are taxed at 13% unless the account is held by a band or band council.
Questions
Billing and tax status: billing@broadbandnorth.com · 226-908-3406 · Toll-free: 1-866-767-4583
Privacy: privacy@broadbandnorth.com
Broadband North, Inc., 1579 Fourth Line Road, Ohsweken, Ontario N0A 1M0. HST registration number 784424368.
This page explains how we apply the Ontario First Nations point-of-sale rebate to your Broadband North bill. It is not tax advice. The rules are set by the Ontario Ministry of Finance and the Canada Revenue Agency.