I received a letter from Betty Gordon of Kelowna who wrote to me with a number of comments and observations about an earlier Q & A response to Julia Hargreaves in the February 2005 issue of The Opus Visual Arts Newsletter (Issue 196). Julia had written in with a number of questions regarding GST (Goods and Services Tax — Federal) and PST (Social Services Tax-Provincial).

In replying to Julia, I had referred readers to the Opus website where they could reference the archived May 2003 issue of the Opus Newsletter. I thank Betty for reminding me that not all readers have access to the internet and that some Opus customers would have to go to the library or an Internet Cafe to read this article. This was certainly an oversight on my part, and I will attempt to address this problem in future replies, if possible in the space I have available.

In the mean time, I encourage artists to do as I do—keep your back issues of The Opus Visual Arts Newsletter. They don't take up much space and have interesting articles that often bear reading more than once, or have articles which may become applicable to you in future years as your art practice changes.

As Betty had a number of other specific questions regarding her current art practice, I encourage her to speak to her local, professional tax advisor for a personal consultation. I suggest this for both Betty and other Opus customers who may have more complex questions than I have been able to answer in some of my responses. When discussing large topics such as PST and GST situations, artists are often working and selling at different levels, and as such it is hard to give a full and detailed answer, covering all aspects of the situation.