New Trust Accounting Option For Ontario Wholesale Registrants
TICO has introduced a new trust accounting option for wholesale registrants now that as the travel industry continues to evolve, it continues to look for opportunities to reduce burden on Ontario registrants, while ensuring a fair and trusted marketplace for consumers.
A little bit of background on this. All TICO registrants must maintain a Travel Industry Act trust bank account, as reflected in their record of registration. All consumer funds for travel services must be deposited into this account and all corresponding supplier payments must be paid out of this account.
Funds in the Travel Industry Act trust bank account cannot be used for operations, such as rent, payroll, utilities, etc.
Under the existing requirements, TICO registered wholesalers have had to maintain a separate trust account dedicated to sales to Ontario retailers. Sales made to out-of-province retailers had to be deposited into a separate bank account. We understand from industry that this requirement was at times onerous and costly to implement and maintain.
New option
As of June 21, 2023, TICO registered wholesalers have the option of depositing all sales of travel services into their Travel Industry Act trust bank account, including sales made to out-of-province retailers. Wholesalers may choose to continue to maintain a separate account for Ontario sales, if that arrangement is preferred.
As before, only sales to Ontario retailers will be counted towards FORM 1/Compensation Fund assessments. Sales to out-of-province retailers, even if deposited into the Travel Industry Act trust bank account, will not count as Ontario Gross Sales.
TICO also reminds registrants that any changes to banking information must be disclosed to TICO prior to account opening with an Ontario financial institution, as defined in Ontario Regulation 26/05 – click here for the relevant form.
For more, refer to the Trust Accounting Guidelines document by CLICKING HERE.
Additional information is available by contacting TICO’s Compliance Department at tico@tico.ca or 1-888-451-TICO (8426).
