Saskatchewan Updates Bulletin and Releases Information Notice on Insurance Premiums

Saskatchewan has updated Information Bulletin PST-73, “Information for Vendors of Insurance Contracts”, and issued Information Notice 2018-01, “Provincial Sales Tax on Insurance Premiums”, to account for changes in how PST applies to insurance premiums in the province.

Effective February 26, 2018, the following types of insurance contracts are no longer subject to PST:

• individual and group life insurance;
• individual and group health, disability, accident and sickness insurance; and
• agricultural insurance, including crop and livestock, hail and margin/income insurance (farm property, equipment and vehicle insurance remain taxable). 

This change is retroactive to August 1, 2017, which is the date that insurance premiums became taxable in Saskatchewan.  Further details on how refunds will be administered for any PST paid on retroactively exempt insurance contracts are to be released at a later date.

The province also took the opportunity to clarify the application of PST to certain types of insurance contracts through several minor updates to the information bulletin.