 I am very pleased to write this post to share the following news!
On Friday, December 20th 2024, the Canadian Revenue Agency (CRA) sent notification to the BC Association of Clinical Counsellors (and subsequently to all Registered Clinical Counsellors in the Province of British Columbia) to discontinue charging GST for counselling services, effective immediately! The BCACC has been advocating on the behalf of BC residents to have the GST removed from counselling services, since the Federal Government made the move to remove the GST from the Provinces with Regulated Colleges of Psychotherapists back in June 2024. The reason British Columbia was not included in the initial decision is due to the fact that the Regulated College of Psychotherapists in BC is currently in process of being formed. The "in process" is key here as counselling will soon be a regulated profession in British Columbia with a College of Psychotherapy. It is from the support of the College of Registered Psychotherapists in Ontario (CRPO) writing a letter to the CRA stating that those that hold a current (and in good standing) membership with the BCACC as a Registered Clinical Counsellor holds the equivalency to those who hold registration with the CRPO. (Yes I am a Registered Clinical Counsellor in Good Standing)! One area that is a bit complicated is that the Canadian Revenue Agency determined that the removal of the GST is to be back-dated to June 20th, 2024 (the time those providing counselling services in the Regulated Provinces were directed to stop charging GST). At that time Registered Clinical Counsellors in the Province of British Columbia were advised to continue charging the GST, while the BC Association of Clinical Counsellors began the work of advocating for the citizens of British Columbia (to join others across Canada who no longer had to pay GST for counselling services). I recognize that this raises questions about the payments that included GST during the time between June 20th and December 20th of 2024. All GST collected for 2024 has been submitted to the CRA. The advice that we have received is to provide the link for individuals who wish to recover the GST paid for counselling services between June 20th and December 20th 2024 by filing a Form 189 (which is an application for a GST rebate). The link at the bottom of this post will take you to the CRA page for the Form 189. I appreciate that there may be individuals who find filling out forms to be challenging. I would gently guide you to seek the support of your accountant or reach out to the CRA and request support with this process. www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/forms-publications/forms/gst189.html
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