The contracts for sales by a book publisher to its customers provide that books which have not been sold within 12 months may be returned. Would a reserve for returns be available? After indicating that no reserve under s. 20(1)(m) was available, and confirming its position in IT-215R, para. 13, CRA stated:
[A] clause permitting the return of goods not sold by customers is not a clause contemplated by paragraph 13 … where title passes to the purchaser upon delivery, well before the expiry of the time limit for the return of goods.
A "true" clause providing for the return of unsold goods is a clause under which ownership of the goods does not pass to the buyer and under which there is no obligation to pay for the goods until the goods are sold or until a certain period of time has elapsed.
In a consignment sale situation or a sale under a "true" return of unsold goods clause, the taxpayer is not required to recognize, for tax purposes, the income from the sale of the goods before title passes to the purchaser. Thus, where the taxpayer still reports income at the time of delivery of the goods, the CRA considers that the taxpayer can claim a reasonable deduction for goods that are returned after the end of the taxpayer's taxation year.