After Eli bought a car from a friend, he contacted us with concerns about the Provincial Sales Tax (PST) assessed by the Consumer Taxation Branch (CTB). Eli explained that vehicle ownership was transferred to him temporarily while the owner was out of the country, and so he felt he qualified for a PST exemption. Unfortunately, he had missed the 90-day deadline to appeal the assessment.

However, the CTB’s assessment, shared with Eli by email, appeared to be based on the vehicle’ s Sanford Evans Gold Book value, rather than the lower, depreciated value. This meant the PST owing had not been calculated fairly. Because Eli had disagreed with the overall assessment, he had not realized it was also calculated improperly.

To settle the complaint, the CTB apologized to Eli for its error and issued a revised Notice of Assessment reflecting the reduced PST outstanding. To Eli’s benefit, this second notice of reassessment also triggered a new opportunity for him to appeal the CTB’s overall decision to charge PST.