River Road Co-Op Ltd. v. The Queen, [1995] GSTC 34 (TCC)

A direct charge retail co-operative charged $3.50 per week to each member of the co-operative irrespective of the type or volume of goods purchased by the member. Lamarre TCJ. concluded that such service fees did not constitute partial payment for goods purchased by the members and, therefore, no portion of such fees qualified for zero-rating.

Lamarre TCJ. concluded that s. 153(2) did not have the effect of deeming a separate service fee charged by a co-operative retail outlet to its members to be consideration paid by them for zero-rated groceries. Instead, the provision "was designed as an anti-avoidance rule that applies where there has been an unreasonable apportionment of consideration as between two or more supplies" (p. 34-6).