"Why does Counselling Bruce County need to charge taxes for services provided by their Registered Psychotherapists and not their Registered Social Worker Psychotherapists?"
The easy answer is that the CRA (Government of Canada) believes that these two professions are different enough that they should not be treated as equal, and therefore have denied the many petitions by thousands of Ontario Psychotherapists to become tax exempt. It is not fair, and we continue to fight for the right to equality in our profession, as we believe we are all working together towards the same goal: supporting mental health through private practice therapy services.
If you would like to read the full information below, it will explain in further detail the reasons why this is our current situation (according to the CRA). The important thing to note is that this is not OUR choice and we feel it is unfair for you to have to pay these taxes.
Here is a link to a news article explaining the petitions: https://osrp.ca/news/13131134 Show your support if you wish here: https://www.taxfreetherapy.ca/ Read on if you wish! The profession of psychotherapy has recently become regulated under provincial legislation in some Canadian provinces. The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has been asked to confirm whether psychotherapy or other services rendered by a psychotherapist are exempt from the GST/HST under Part II of Schedule V to the Act. Part II of Schedule V exempts from the GST/HST supplies of certain health care services rendered to an individual by specific health care professionals. To be exempt from the GST/HST a health care service must meet the requirements in one of the exemptions included in this Part. A supply of a health care service rendered by a person other than a specific health care professional listed in an exemption in Part II is generally subject to the GST/HST. Currently, there is no provision in the Act that specifically exempts from the GST/HST supplies of psychotherapy services or services rendered by a psychotherapist, even if the psychotherapist is licensed and renders the service in a province that regulates the profession of psychotherapy. Therefore, a psychotherapist is required to collect GST/HST on his or her supplies of services, if he or she is a GST/HST registrant. However, a supply of psychotherapy services may be exempt from the GST/HST if the service is supplied by a health care professional authorized to render psychotherapy services within the scope of practice for his or her own profession and for which a GST/HST exemption is available. For example, specific exemptions are available in sections 5, 6, and 7.2 of Part II of Schedule V for supplies of services (including psychotherapy) made by licensed physicians, nurses and social workers, respectively. In addition, section 7 of this Part lists specific services, supplies of which are exempt from the GST/HST if the particular service is rendered to an individual by a “practitioner” of the service. Psychological services and occupational therapy services are both listed in section 7 of Part II. The list of health care practitioners in the definition of the term “practitioner” includes registered psychologists and occupational therapists. The term “practitioner” is defined in section 1 of Part II of Schedule V. Therefore, supplies of psychotherapy services rendered to an individual by a licensed physician or registered nurse, social worker, psychologist or occupational therapist will be exempt from the GST/HST if the supply meets the requirements in the relevant exemption and the supply is also a qualifying health care supply, but not a cosmetic service supply, pursuant to sections 1.2 and 1.1 of Part II of Schedule V. Finally, section 9 of Part II of Schedule V provides a general exemption for supplies (including supplies of psychotherapy services) rendered to an individual to the extent that the service is payable or reimbursed by a provincial health care plan.
The above information was taken from below: *https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/forms-publications/publications/news97/news97-excise-gst-hst-news-no-97.html#_Toc427668034