The public service bodies rebate lets charities, qualifying non-profit organizations (NPOs) and selected public service bodies — hospital authorities, municipalities, facility operators, external suppliers, and school authorities, universities and public colleges established and operated otherwise than for profit — recover some of the GST/HST paid or payable on eligible purchases and expenses when it cannot be recovered through an input tax credit, another rebate, refund or remission. The GST rebate for charities specifically means a charity may claim a 50% rebate of the GST or federal part of HST on eligible purchases for its non-selected public service body activities, and a charity resident in a participating province may also qualify for a rebate of some of the provincial part of HST; in Ontario, the provincial factor for charities and qualifying NPOs is 82%. It is not a universal rebate for every non-profit or public body.
Who is eligible for the public service bodies rebate
The CRA lists three groups of possible claimants: charities, qualifying NPOs and selected public service bodies. Charities and public institutions may claim on eligible purchases for their non-selected public service body activities. To be a qualifying NPO, an NPO’s percentage of government funding must be at least 40% of its total revenues. If the percentage for the fiscal year being claimed is less than 40%, Form GST523-1 lets the NPO calculate it based on its first fiscal year (if the claimed year is its second fiscal year of existence) or on the two fiscal years immediately before (if the claimed year is its third or later fiscal year of existence). Selected public service bodies — hospital authorities, municipalities, facility operators, external suppliers, and school authorities, universities and public colleges established and operated otherwise than for profit — use the rebate factors for their own activity type. For how GST/HST applies to what an NPO itself supplies, see how HST affects non-profit organizations.
Public service bodies rebate rates (federal and Ontario)
CRA sets a separate rebate factor for the GST or federal part of HST, and a separate factor for the provincial part of HST in each participating province. The table below gives the federal factor and the Ontario provincial factor for each claimant category.
| Claimant category | Federal (GST / federal part of HST) | Ontario (provincial part of HST) |
|---|---|---|
| Charities and qualifying NPOs (non-selected public service body activities) | 50% | 82% |
| Hospital authorities | 83% | 87% |
| School authorities | 68% | 93% |
| Universities | 67% | 78% |
| Public colleges | 67% | 78% |
| Municipalities | 100% | 78% |
| Facility operators (eligible activities) | 83% | 87% |
| External suppliers (eligible activities) | 83% | 87% |
These factors come from CRA’s RC4034 guide; other participating provinces have their own provincial factors, so check the category that matches the organization before applying a percentage.
How to calculate the rebate: a $113 Ontario example
A charity in Ontario buys $113.00 of eligible supplies for its non-selected public service body activities, HST included, at the 13% combined rate (5% GST + 8% Ontario provincial part). The pre-tax price is $113.00 ÷ 1.13 = $100.00, so the GST portion is $5.00 and the Ontario provincial portion is $8.00. The federal rebate is 50% of $5.00 = $2.50. The Ontario provincial rebate is 82% of $8.00 = $6.56. The charity’s public service bodies rebate amount for that purchase is $2.50 + $6.56 = $9.06. A hospital authority, school authority, university, public college, municipality, facility operator or external supplier applies the same two-step method with the factors for its own activity type from the table above, instead of the charity rates.
Forms and filing
All claimants complete Parts A, B, D and E of Form GST66, Application for GST/HST Public Service Bodies’ Rebate and GST Self-Government Refund. Add Form RC7066-SCH, Provincial Schedule, whenever a rebate of the provincial part of HST is being claimed. A qualifying NPO must also file Form GST523-1, Non-profit Organizations – Government Funding, for each completed fiscal year it wants to claim a rebate for. The CRA recommends that registered public service bodies use the “File a Return” option to file their GST/HST return and rebate application together; the File a PSB rebate online service is available to both registered and non-registered public service bodies. Tax that can be recovered as an input tax credit is not eligible for this rebate — see how input tax credits work before assuming every purchase belongs on the PSB rebate instead.
Deadlines and filing frequency
A registrant has up to four years from the due date of its GST/HST return for the claim period in which it incurred the expense to file a rebate application. A non-registrant has up to four years from the last day of the claim period in which it incurred the expense. A non-registrant has two claim periods per fiscal year — the first six months and the last six months — and can file one rebate application for each claim period in which it is eligible. A registrant’s claim periods are the same as its GST/HST reporting periods.
Ontario’s broader HST rules — including the rates that apply to a typical taxable purchase before any rebate is calculated — are covered in the HST in Ontario guide. For more detail, including the rebate factors for every participating province, see the CRA: PSB rebate page and the RC4034 guide.