Which specific business expenses are affected by Ontario's recaptured input tax credit rule?

Ontario's now-repealed recaptured input tax credit rule applied to a defined, limited list of expense categories rather than to a business's spending generally — the categories that were affected included energy used other than to produce goods for sale, telecommunication services beyond certain basic categories, specified road vehicles, and fuel and some related costs for them, and meals and entertainment expenses, until the rule was fully phased out by July 1, 2018. Expenses outside these categories generally aren't subject to recapture even for a business that otherwise qualifies as a specified person.

Because the categories have specific definitions and exceptions built into them, for example, energy used directly in producing goods for sale is often treated differently from energy used for general office purposes, simply seeing "vehicle" or "energy" on an invoice doesn't automatically mean recapture applies; the specific use and classification of the expense matters.

Given how much is riding on correctly classifying each expense, recapture applies to the provincial portion of the input tax credit on qualifying costs, a specified person should have its bookkeeping set up to flag these categories specifically, and should confirm the current, precise list of affected expenses and their definitions with a tax advisor, rather than relying on a general description of the categories.