New administrative improvements are making it easier for tour operators to claim GST/HST rebates under the Foreign Convention and Tour Incentive Program (FCTIP).

As part of the Government of Canada’s commitments under the Federal Tourism Strategy, the Department of Finance and the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) met with the Tourism Industry Association of Canada and other representatives of the tourism industry to examine the operational design and administration of the FCTIP and to explore the feasibility of changes that would improve the program's effectiveness while maintaining the current scope of the program and a high standard of accountability.

The Canada Revenue Agency has developed and is implementing some of the suggested improvements to the FCTIP, which were announced by the Honourable Gail Shea, Minister of National Revenue, on May 4th.  These include launching a GST/HST rulings service to allow tour operators to know, in advance, whether their tour packages will be eligible for a rebate; streamlining the processing of FCTIP rebate claims; creating and distributing a multi-lingual pamphlet in English, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Portuguese and Spanish; and making information on the FCTIP easier to find on the CRA’s Web site.

“We are pleased that the Canada Revenue Agency is working with the tourism industry to improve the effectiveness of the Foreign Convention and Tour Incentive Program,” said David Goldstein, President and CEO of the Tourism Industry Association of Canada. "The administrative changes to the FCTIP provide positive initial steps towards making this program work better for international tour operators and tourism businesses in Canada."

For more information on the improvements to the FCTIP, please visit the Newsroom at www.cra-arc.gc.ca.