Uber Eats and HST

[giannou]

Hey guys. 

I am a new Uber Eats Driver and have registered for an HST Number voluntarily.

Does anyone know if Uber Eats includes what they charge the customer for HST in the fare we collect on our phones ,or will they send me the HST payments at a later date?

Is the fare we get the same as it would be if we were not registered for HST? Basically I want to know if I screwed myself by registering for an HST number when I didnt have to. 

I've tried to ask Uber about this and they are useless. 

Any help is appreciated. 

Thanks!

[Jeffuuright]

In principle the GST/HST is intended to be neutral to most registrants. (A registrant is one who is registered for GST/HST).

Unfortunately TurboTax is unable to comment on the specific mechanics of Uber Eats payments to drivers. However, the general GST/HST timing rule is: essentially, the tax is collectible by a registrant at the time a taxable service is provided, not later. 

Regarding GST/HST on some expenses incurred in the course of providing a delivery service: a non-registrant can claim the GST/HST incurred as an expense for income tax purposes, which is less advantageous than the full GST/HST recovery that a registrant gets from claiming an input tax credit.

[larryanta]

As an independent food delivery driver for Uber Eats, I can attest to the difficulty of getting any meaningful answers to GST/HST questions from them.  (The information they do provide online is very generic.)  After having thoroughly read Intuit's (really excellent) article "GST/HST Reporting Requirements For Food Delivery Services" by Hebatollah El-Kady, there are still nagging questions surrounding GST/HST.  Like @giannou I voluntarily registered for a GST/HST number and gave it to Uber.  I exclusively deliver food for them; I take on no passengers.

My concern is that Uber occasionally provides me with copies of trip invoices for my food deliveries.  They're invoices addressed to the restaurant.  They contain the restaurant's name, address, GST registration number, invoice number, the date of the food pickup, the charge for my delivery services, HST (at 13%) on that delivery charge, and the gross amount (the charge plus the HST).

I can match up the gross amount with my earnings.  Uber pays me the gross amount (less a 35% cut of it that they keep for letting me use their delivery application).  The gross amount matches my earnings statement for each trip exactly.

The reason for my concern is that these trip invoices contain the words, "Tax invoice issued by Uber Portier B.V. on behalf of:"  Those words are followed by my name and my GST registration number.  I think it's reasonable for me to assume that this trip invoice was paid to Uber by the restaurant.  Since Uber now has the HST that was charged to the restaurant for my delivery service and since Uber gave me the gross amount, including that HST, surely I have to remit the HST to the CRA since it's not mine to keep.

I completely understand that it is not TurboTax's responsibility to untangle the inner workings of Uber Eats payments to drivers @Jeffuuright .  However, as a tax expert, what would be the best advice you can give to a TurboTax user such as myself who has no hope of getting an answer from Uber Eats but has been given clear evidence in the form of trip invoices that HST has been collected against my GST registration number?

[Jeffuuright]

You are asking for advice, given that given that Uber has: invoiced and collected HST “on your behalf,” has given you documentation, and has transferred the funds to you. 

You have described your situation but it is not entirely clear what aspect you are asking for advice about. 

You indicate that Uber states that tax has been collected by Uber on your behalf and according to your description of your earnings and records, Uber has forwarded the tax to you. Under the HST rules, tax must be remitted to the Government regardless of whether the tax was collected properly, or was collected in error. 

If you are asking for advice on whether to remit to CRA the funds earmarked as HST collected despite your having unanswered related questions, you are quite correct, any and all HST you receive must be remitted by you to CRA.

[larryanta]

Thank you very much, @Jeffuuright.  That's exactly what I need to know.

Based on Hebatollah El-Kady's article ("GST/HST Reporting Requirements for Food Delivery Services"), it seems to me that Uber Eats should not be giving my personal GST registration number to the restaurants I pick up food from.

However, since they are doing so, I am obligated to remit the HST to the CRA if I understand you correctly.  Thanks again for your help.