On June 27, 2014, TEI submitted a letter to the Canadian Department of Finance observing that requiring foreign e-commerce suppliers to register with Canadian Revenue Authority and collect GST/HST on sales to final consumers would restore neutrality to the Canadian sales tax system and mitigate the pricing difference resulting from the ineffectiveness of self-assessment of the tax. The Institute's comments went on to discuss several areas to be addressed if a mandatory registration system for foreign e-commerce providers is created.
The letter was prepared under the aegis of TEI's Canadian Commodity Tax Committee, whose chair is Robert J. Smith of McKesson Canada. Contributing substantially to the development of TEI's comments were Dan Karvonen of Bell Canada and Richard Taylor of Rogers Communications Inc. Daniel B. De Jong of the Institute's legal staff coordinated the development of the Institute's comments.