Quote Originally Posted by Momof4 View Post
I made the phone calls a year or two ago because I was getting conflicting information. Friends in our business insisted we need a BIN and my daycare Mom who works at Canada Revenue told me I don't need it..
Yes it is frustrating to say the least specially because the rules vary between Federal and Provincial governments ... Canada Revenue Agency is a FEDERAL agency and your client is correct as far as they are concerned we do not NEED a BIN as far as they are concerned because regardless of how much we make we are exempt from collecting GST and unless we have employees do not need to worry about WSIB and Employer Health Care taxes or anything...and according to them we are LEGALLY REQUIRED to provide our SIN something that every other avenue of the government vehemently tells us to PROTECT which is a contradiction - however they will tell you that if your Province does not 'require' you to have one for any other business purposes that you can 'volunteer' to have a BN or BIN to avoid having to provide it.

Than we have Provincial business rules ... if you live in Ontario for example you ARE required buy the Business Names Act to have a BIN if you advertize your business by anything other than your full legal name - which almost every childcare program I know DOES since we add things to our websites and ads like "Susie's Sensational Home Learning' or something verses our full legal name 'Susan Diane Doe - owner operator of a home childcare program' as our 'advertizing tag line'.

From the Business Names Act - the part that would apply to us small self employed business owners who are 'individuals' verses corporations.

http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/sta...es_90b17_e.htm

Idem

(2) No individual shall carry on business or identify his or her business to the public under a name other than his or her own name unless the name is registered by that individual. R.S.O. 1990, c. B.17, s. 2 (2).
So if you talk to someone who works at a FEDERAL level only and whose expertise is TAXES you could get inaccurate information because they are telling you that FEDERALLY and in regards to TAXES you do not need a BIN which is correct.

However it is INCORRECT for PROVINCIAL laws at least in Ontario ... the trouble is that they may not have bothered to learn the PROVINCIAL business laws because their expertise is just TAX LAW as an employee of the CRA not a business expert ... and there are so many more things that govern us aside from 'taxes' .... the Provincial Day Nursery Acts which is different in every province, provincial business laws and acts which are also different as well as REGION bi-laws and zoning laws.

Bi-laws for example that might allow one of us to work in a 'condo' and another to NOT because the Condo Act in their region might prevent 'business' to be operated from them - so if you asked someone who lives in Ontario 'can you operate a business in a condo' they might tell you YES and be correct for their Region but be INCORRECT if they live in a different 'region' of Ontario ... I had a peer who had to MOVE because her condo bi-laws did not allow home based business to be run out of them and someone 'complained' and she got told to close up or move - and well she needed the income where as many people on THIS board talk about being able to operate out of apartments or condos cause theirs are 'zoned' differently ... my point being we need to be CAREFUL when we give advice cause while it might be good for our area where we do business not so much in other areas.

There are SO MANY NUANCES to owning and operating a childcare business that most people do not even THINK about and sadly as business owners it is our job to make sure we RESEARCH accurately cause if the shit hits the fans and you are not following the rules 'ignorance' of them is not got to be an defense