Letter to Retailers in Nova Scotia
December 18, 2020
Re: Status Indian Tax Exemption
To Whom It May Concern:
Under s.87 of the Indian Act, First Nations individuals are exempt from sales tax when purchasing goods or services, either on-reserve or delivered to a reserve. It has been an ongoing concern of the Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaw Chiefs that there are inconsistencies across Nova Scotia relating to point-of-sale tax relief for Status Indians.
The Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaw Chiefs is the highest level of decision-making for the Mi’kmaq Nation in Nova Scotia and is comprised of 11 Chiefs in the Province.
We wish to acknowledge those retailers who are and have been providing point-of-sale tax relief to our community members. If you would like to receive a printable sign you can post in your store window or at your cash register to let our community members and Nova Scotians know that you support the implementation of Mi’kmaw Rights, please contact to request one.
If your store or service does not currently provide the point-of-sale-tax exemption to Status Indians, we request that you honour our section 87 Indian Act rights. For further information, you may consult Canada Revenue Agency’s Technical Information Bulletin available at: GST/HST Administrative Policy – Application of the GST/HST to Indians – Canada.ca
We would also like to acknowledge the work of the Union of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaq (UNSM) who has been researching and created a template for short-term contracts for delivery to satisfy CRA’s regulations of the tax exemption. If you are interested in exploring the UNSM’s work, please see the letter and template contract are included below.
We appreciate your cooperation in this matter.
Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaw Chiefs
Full version – Letter from the Assembly