I charge HST for my business. When I buy supplies for my business, do I select Exempt HST, include HST or out-of-scope? Where is the explanation of each of these?

Hello sattracker,

With QuickBooks Online, it's easy to track your sales tax calculations and have confidence in your numbers when it comes time to file with the government. I know it can be a bit tricky to figure out what codes to apply and when, and it's important to me that you're applying the ones you need. I'll point you in the right direction.

For these kinds of situations, speaking with an accounting professional is your best option. I know there are many different circumstances for when you would and wouldn't apply sales tax to a transaction depending on your business's needs. Accountants have the training to back them and can properly advise you to make sure your books balance and your transactions are correct.

Connecting with an accountant is as easy as using the My Accountant tab in the program. This tab allows you to easily invite an accountant you're already working with as a user to your account or find an accountant if you don't have one just by clicking the Find a pro to help button. Adding an accountant user to your books enhances the ways that they can help you and is a great option for many business owners.

For your reference, here's a link that explains sales tax codes you'll find in QuickBooks Online: Common sales tax codes. You can also check out this page from the CRA website to learn more about sales tax in Canada: Overview of charging and collecting sales tax

I hope that helps. Feel free to stop by again.

[Edited]

Thank you for not at all answering my simple question as to how the QuickBooks software works.

As for the Accountants and "professionals" listed in your service - I have contacted a few of the referred to "professionals" and none of them have returned calls or emails after multiple attempts to contact.

It's also too bad there is no "thumbs down" button.  Biased stats as always.

I will simply close my account to this useless service. 

I appreciate you taking the time to follow up, sattracker. While I'm glad to hear that you already knew about the Find a pro to help feature, I can appreciate how not receiving a response when you've reached out is unhelpful. It's important to me that you're able to get the answers you're seeking and that you make the best decision for your business.

I noticed in my initial response that I had missed including links about the explanations of sales tax codes, so I've gone back and added those now if you'd like to check them out. Apart from that, however, I cannot advise you on which to pick when. As a technical support agent, I can absolutely tell you how the sales tax feature in QuickBooks Online works, but from your question, it sounds to me that you're asking about which codes to apply to your transactions, which is a question I cannot answer.

If I've missed the mark on what you're asking, let me know. I'm here to help how I can.

So it's still not answered.  I have attached an image for clarity. The question again is that I collect HST and I purchase supplies.  I know I don't pay twice my HST and can deduct the HST from the items I purchase for business.  Which option is it that removes the taxes paid on the supplies from my collected HST - Exempt/Out of Scope/HST13%?  I do not see any clear instructions on how this selection is made.

I hope this is finally clear and can be answered as this is a Quickbooks question, not a CRA question.

I want to assure you that I hear what you're saying. One of the articles I added to my original response outlines the difference between the Exempt, Out of Scope, and HST tax codes in QuickBooks Online. I've also found this page from a third-party site that goes over sales tax codes in the program. While it mostly seems to be in regards to sales rather than purchases, it may help with familiarizing yourself with each tax code. Check it out here: Which GST code to use in QuickBooks Online. It also touches on HST even though the title's focus is GST.

I also invite you to visit the Sales Tax Centre in QuickBooks Online, where you'll see how the program manages sales tax on sales and purchases. Simply go to the Taxes menu and choose Manage sales tax on the Sales Tax page and you'll see the codes. Here's a glimpse from a test account of what it'll look like.

I'd like to clarify my role as a tech support agent. I'm able to give directions such as the above with navigating to the Sales Tax Centre or where to click to get the options for sales tax codes to add to a transaction, but I don't have the training to advise which code is appropriate for your situation. This is why I've recommended an accountant or even the CRA to get a better sense of the sales tax codes you'll be recording as a business owner.

The sales tax codes are programmed into QuickBooks based on CRA stipulations about how they are used outside of the software. Consulting the resources I've mentioned should help you get on track with recording your transactions.

Thanks for the support, but am even further disappointed with the product (continuously discovered pot holes), but my question could be answered by the software developer - who is the one who should be responding to technical/functional questions.  I have read some CRA documents, but did not find the 3 referenced terms being used by QuickBooks.

Suggesting I contact and accountant of CRA completely defeats the purpose for me (likely others) the value of this software.

I can easily go back to my accountant and pay him, but would have expected your software and support would meet a minimal featured tool, which now only marginally exceeds the features in an Excel spreadsheet.

Terrible