FPC and taxes

[yadayada]

When an FPC has the following written on the back, is tax charged or not charged?

"Provincial law may require the retailer to charge the applicable tax on the on the full value of the purchase(s) before the reduction in coupon value. GST, PST and HST are included in face value where applicable."

Some cashiers charge tax and some do not in this situation. Some cashiers see the first sentence and want to charge tax based on that and then use the "where applicable" part of the second sentence to say that removal of taxes doesn't apply for whatever reason. Is there a definite answer or up to the store/cashier?

[anisa]

in Ontario, and some other provinces tax is not applied to a free item. even BOGO where the item is free is not supposed to have attached to it.

when i go to RCSS they will do a seperate transaction for me if the item is a normally taxable one, so they can instantly see what the total amount would be, and then apply the coupon using that dollar amount.

i can't remember what the other provinces are that prohibit tax on free items. ppl have to look it up, or ask a local retailer if they know i guess.

[Britter]

I'm in Ontario and I've always had to pay tax. Is there some place with information on this?
if it was law in ontario why are the stores and cashiers not informed?

I as well am very confused about this, do i pay tax? or don't I pay tax?

[yadayada]

The cashier was convinced I had to pay tax and she wasn't going to change her mind and I said I didn't so I left the product there and took my coupon since it doesn't expire until the end of the year. She made a big deal about me not wanting to pay the tax as well she didn't know how to cancel a transaction on her machine which compounded her frustration level. Maybe I will try using the FPC this weekend at the superstore no tax event so I don't have to have that "discussion" with another cashier. I am getting tired of educating cashier after cashier about this, SCOP, price matching etc.
If there is something I can print out to present to them about FPC and taxes that would be helpful.

[mstickle]

I'm in BC and I'd like to find a reliable website )preferabley a government one) with this information so I can print it out. I've searched every where. It's my understanding that if it says "Free Product", they can't charge tax, but if the coupon is of an amount that incidentally results in a free product, the taxes are applicable. Hope someone comes along who can help!

[walkonby]

Saw that I was charged .58 tax at Metro on the 1 can of Glade Expressions, ( their price was $4.49 a can !! ) and I forgot to look for tax till I got home. Too excited only paying $12.11 OOP instead of $32.05 (happy dancing here) Coupons tendered $19.94..woot woot!
I guess it all balances out though as I see the guy entered only 1 can, only took off 1 FPC and I bought 2 and used 2 FPC's lol!!
So...was I supposed to pay taxes using that FREE websaver coupon or not?