Place of Supply Rules as they Apply to the Acquisition of Software licences by the Government of Canada

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As part of the Acquisitions Program’s transformation agenda, PSPC is planning to archive and migrate the SACC manual to the CanadaBuys website. The SACC manual will continue to be available on the BuyandSell website to ensure continuity of service during this transition period. At this time, an initial version of the archived version of the SACC has been posted on CanadaBuys. We encourage you to go visit the site and get comfortable with the new format of the SACC at the following:

Archived - Standard Acquisition Clauses and Conditions Manual | CanadaBuys

We appreciate your continued feedback and cooperation during this transition.

Item Information

Note: This document is a supplement to PN-94 and should be read in conjunction with PN-94.

Introduction

This policy notification will help determine what is the place of supply for transactions for the acquisition of software licences that are supplies of intangible personal property. The determination of the place of supply determines in which province a supply is made and thus determines what rate of tax applies.

Place of Supply Rules for intangible personal property as they apply to the acquisition of software licences

For software licenses that can legally be used by the Government of Canada anywhere in Canada, as per the terms of the contract, the place of supply is deemed to be in the province of the contracting authority as it appears in the contract when first awarded.

For software licences for which the use is legally limited to a specific geographical location, as per the terms of the contract, the place of supply is deemed to be in the province of that specific location.

For software licences that do not fall into the two above-stated situations, contracting officers are instructed to consult the GST/HST Technical Information Bulletin B-103 (June 2010) (PDF Version 533Kb) (Help on File Formats) or contact the Canada Revenue Agency.

Acquisitions Branch Contact

Olivier Lalande
Acquisition Policy and Process Directorate
Policy, Risk, Integrity and Strategic Management Sector
Acquisitions Branch
Public Works and Government Services Canada
819-956-0166
olivier.lalande@pwgsc-tpsgc.gc.ca

Canada Revenue Agency Contact

Contact information to be provided under separate cover.