NRI Responsibilities

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Maintaining Books and Records:

An NRI is required to maintain books and records of all Canadian import transactions for a period of six years plus the current year.

These records should be maintained in Canada by an appointed customs broker or outside of Canada on the Non-Resident’s premises by requesting authorization from Revenue Canada (Form BSF900). The letter of undertaking with CRA commits the Non-Resident Importer to cover potential traveling costs for a Customs Auditor to conduct an audit at their premises. For more details and exceptions, including on records maintained electronically, please see CBSA’s Memorandum D17-1-21: Maintenance of Records in Canada by Importers.

GST/HST Collection and Filing:

The NRI will invoice and charge the Canadian customer for the product, duty, tax, and shipping cost. The invoices must state and label the tax appropriately and show their GST/HST Registration Number (RT) on their invoice if they are a GST/HST Registrant.

The NRI will then pay the same applicable duty and tax to Canada Customs through the new CARM system.

The NRI (if they are a GST/HST Registrant) must file and remit their GST/HST Tax to the Canada Revenue Agency, showing what tax they collected from their Canadian customer and what tax they paid out to Canada Customs. This can be remitted monthly, quarterly or yearly, and is also known as their Input Tax Credit (ITC). Consult the General Information for GST/HST guide for more information. 

To register as an NRI with Dilas International as your broker, please proceed to the NRI Registration Process page.