The Minister denied the input tax credit (“ITC”) claims of Amex Bank of Canada’s (“Amex”) for its 2002 to 2012 taxation years for GST/HST paid on expenses arising in connection with the administration and operation of Amex’s Membership Rewards Program (“MRP”), including expenses (”Reward Expenses”) incurred for the purpose of providing its cardholders who were members of the MRP (“Members”) with rewards on the redemption of points earned by them mostly through making purchases on their cards.
Hogan J, before dismissing the appeal, stated (at paras. 59) that “all of the elements and components of the MRP are inherently intertwined and connected with the exempt supply of financial services made by the Appellant to its Members and merchants” and noted in this regard (also at para. 59) that the Members accumulated points and obtained rewards through use of their cards and that, conversely, enrolment in the MRP of a cardholder alone offers no benefits by itself and that points could only be earned and redeemed for benefits if the card was used by the Member to pay for goods or services. Furthermore, the facts pointing to “all of the elements and components of the MRP [being] elements of a composite supply also establish that the predominant element of that supply is the extension of credit by Amex to a Member” (an exempt supply) (para. 68). Hogan J further found (at para. 82) that Amex incurred “the Reward Expense for the purpose of earning greater merchant discount revenue in its credit card business.”