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Export bill of sale

The export deal, written like it matters.

Export sales get the thinnest paperwork in the dealership and carry the heaviest obligations. Under Ontario law they're retail sales, the Compensation Fund doesn't protect the buyer, and the HST decision is worth more than the deal. Lot Jacket's export bill of sale states the tax treatment on the contract and files the proof of export with it.

BILL OF SALE — EXPORTYour Motors Inc.
VEHICLE2019 RAM 1500 — VIN …D41902FROM OWNERSHIP SCAN
PURCHASERLAKESIDE AUTO LLC, BUFFALO NY
DESTINATIONBUFFALO, NEW YORK, USA
DISCLOSURES (s. 42)STRUCTURAL REPAIR · EX-DAILY RENTALFROM HISTORY SCAN
CARRIAGEDEALER-RETAINED CARRIER — BOL ON FILE
HST TREATMENTZERO-RATED — SCH. VI, PT. V, s. 12
PROOF OF EXPORT ✓ — bill of lading, broker invoice, and destination import documents attached to the jacket. The tax position is evidenced, not asserted.
M. Reyes
PURCHASER — E-SIGNED
E-signed & filed
the tax decision, made at the desk and recorded ↑
The short version Section 51 of O. Reg. 333/08 means you must take ownership before you export. Section 40 (2) means a sale to a buyer who isn't an Ontario-registered dealer is a retail sale with full section 42 disclosures — a Michigan dealer doesn't count as registered. Section 79 (1) (d) means the Compensation Fund doesn't cover them. And the HST treatment turns on who puts the car on the carrier.

You can't export what you don't own

The regulation is one sentence: "No registered motor vehicle dealer shall export a motor vehicle outside of Ontario unless the dealer has taken ownership of the vehicle before exporting it." That rules out brokering an export — the car has to come into your name, your garage register, and your records before it leaves. Which means an export deal is a full deal file whether you treat it like one or not.

Worth knowing too: the exporter and outside Ontario dealer registration classes are buying licences only. Sections 22 and 23 permit them to buy for export and advertise that buying — nothing else. The dealer on the selling side of an export is a general dealer, under general dealer rules.

The HST decision, in two boxes

There are two separate zero-rating provisions in the Excise Tax Act, and the one most dealers know excludes exactly the buyer they're standing in front of.

SECTION 1 — BUYER EXPORTS

Excludes consumers

Available only to a recipient other than a consumer. A foreign business buying for resale qualifies. A US individual buying a car to drive does not — and the section 252 non-resident rebate carries the identical exclusion. Charge HST.

SECTION 12 — YOU SHIP IT

No consumer exclusion

Applies where the dealer ships to a destination outside Canada in the contract of carriage, or hands possession to a carrier retained on the buyer's behalf. Works for individual buyers too. This is the clean structure.

The practical rule: if you want the sale zero-rated and the buyer is anything other than a foreign business, put the car on a carrier yourself. Full detail in the HST on export sales guide.

The asymmetry to understand An export sale carries the full retail disclosure burden under section 40 (2), because "registered motor vehicle dealer" means registered under Ontario's MVDA — a foreign dealer isn't one. But section 79 (1) (d) restricts the Compensation Fund to customers acting as a consumer, which a foreign dealer or business buyer never is. Maximum obligation, zero buyer protection. Write these deals more carefully than your retail ones, not less.

What's on every Lot Jacket export bill of sale

  • ✓Your dealership, front and centre. Name, logo, address, HST and OMVIC registration details — your contract, on your paper.
  • ✓The HST treatment stated. Which provision the deal relies on, recorded at the desk instead of reconstructed under audit years later.
  • ✓Section 42 disclosures in writing. Because an export sale is a retail sale — accident repairs over $3,000, brands, former use, odometer status.
  • ✓Destination and carriage. Who retained the carrier and where the vehicle is going — the facts the zero-rating stands or falls on.
  • ✓Proof of export, attached. Bill of lading, broker invoice, destination import documents and foreign registration filed into the same jacket.
  • ✓E-signed and retained six years. Signed from any device and filed for the full MVDA retention period.

Straight answers

What is an export bill of sale?
An export bill of sale is the contract used when an Ontario dealer sells a vehicle that is leaving the country. It carries everything a retail bill of sale carries — because under section 40 (2) of O. Reg. 333/08 a sale to a buyer who is not an Ontario-registered dealer is a retail sale — plus the export-specific elements: the HST treatment being relied on, the destination, and the carriage arrangements that support it.
Can an Ontario dealer export a vehicle it doesn't own?
No. Section 51 of O. Reg. 333/08 states that no registered motor vehicle dealer shall export a motor vehicle outside of Ontario unless the dealer has taken ownership of the vehicle before exporting it. The vehicle must pass through the dealership's ownership, garage register, and records before it leaves.
Do I charge HST on an export sale?
It depends on who moves the vehicle and what kind of buyer it is. Where the dealer ships to a destination outside Canada, Schedule VI, Part V, section 12 of the Excise Tax Act zero-rates the sale with no consumer exclusion. Where the buyer exports it themselves, section 1 applies but is unavailable to a consumer — an individual buying for personal use. In that case HST is chargeable.
Does the OMVIC Compensation Fund cover an export buyer?
No. Section 79 (1) (d) of O. Reg. 333/08 requires the customer to have been acting in the trade as a consumer within the meaning of the Consumer Protection Act, 2002. A foreign dealer or business buyer is not a consumer, so no claim against the Fund is possible. Export sales carry full dealer obligations with no buyer-side Fund protection.
Do I need a CBSA export declaration?
Not for a vehicle destined for consumption in the United States — CBSA exemption code NDR1 covers it, and nothing is filed in the Canadian Export Reporting System. Anywhere else, a declaration is required for goods valued at CAD $2,000 or more. Watch the in-transit case: a car trucked through the US and loaded onto a vessel bound for a third country is not covered by the exemption and must be reported.

Bring an export deal you've already written.

Book a free 15-minute demo and we'll run it against section 51, the disclosure rules, and both HST routes — then show you what the file should look like.

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Sources
  1. O. Reg. 333/08: General (under the MVDA) — Government of Ontario, ss. 22, 23, 40, 51, 79
  2. Excise Tax Act, Schedule VI, Part V — Government of Canada
  3. GST/HST Memorandum 4-5-2: Exports — Tangible Personal Property — Canada Revenue Agency
  4. Goods that do not need an export declaration — Canada Border Services Agency
  5. Compensation Fund — OMVIC

This page is general information for Ontario used-car dealers, not legal, tax, or customs advice. Requirements change — always confirm the current rules with OMVIC, CRA, or a qualified advisor.

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