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Went to 2 different places today with some coupons in hand, one store took the coupons off before the total and the other took the coupons off after the total. Does this not make a huge difference? I mean essentially the coupon only replaces the HSt in the latter case.
I don't think it matters when they are entered - you should be paying tax on the amount before coupons either way. Even if the coupons are taken off before everything is totalled, the register still knows to charge tax on the full amount. Say you are in Ontario - if your total is $50 and you have $10 in coupons, you would still pay $6.50 tax on the $50 (assuming it is taxable). If you check the actual tax paid, it should be on the full taxable amount on both receipts, even if you used coupons on those taxable items. It might be hard to be certain if you had a mix of taxable and non taxable items, though.
Here is a thread that explains this: http://forum.smartcanucks.ca/184178-...-rules-canada/
If you weren't charged tax on the full price at one store, you got off lucky. :) They are not following the CRA guidelines for coupons, which say that the tax should be charged before the deduction (unless you have a coupon for a free product - FPC or B1G1, in which case the tax should not be charged at all.)