Do I need to charge GST/HST as a small online seller in Canada?

Not until you stop being a small supplier. You must register for GST/HST and start charging it once your worldwide taxable sales, including zero-rated sales such as exports to the US, go over $30,000 in a single calendar quarter or over four consecutive calendar quarters. Below that, registering is optional. Sales from every channel count, including Shopify, Etsy and Amazon.

What is the difference between GST and HST?

GST is the 5% federal sales tax charged everywhere in Canada. HST is the harmonized sales tax that replaces GST plus a provincial tax in Ontario (13%), Nova Scotia (14%), New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Prince Edward Island (15%). Both are reported on the same CRA GST/HST return with one registration number.

Which rate do I charge when I ship to another province?

The rate of the province where the goods are delivered. A GST/HST-registered seller in Alberta charges 13% HST on an order shipped to Ontario, 14% to Nova Scotia and 5% GST to British Columbia. Provincial sales tax in BC, Saskatchewan, Manitoba or Quebec is only charged if you are registered for it there.

Do I charge GST/HST on sales to US customers?

No. Goods you ship to a customer in the US are zero-rated exports, so you charge 0% GST/HST as long as you keep proof that they left Canada. Those sales still count towards the $30,000 small supplier threshold. On the US side, your buyer or you may owe import duty, and US state sales tax applies once you pass a state's threshold.

Do I need to register for PST as an online seller?

Possibly, even if you are based in another province. BC requires out-of-province sellers to register once BC sales pass $10,000 in 12 months. Saskatchewan has no minimum for out-of-province sellers. Manitoba's $30,000 small business exception rarely applies to online sellers based elsewhere. Quebec requires Canadian sellers outside Quebec to register for QST once Quebec consumer sales pass $30,000 in 12 months.

How often do I file a GST/HST return?

Most small sellers file once a year. The CRA assigns an annual reporting period if your annual taxable sales are $1.5 million or less, quarterly up to $6 million and monthly above that. Every GST/HST return must be filed electronically, even a nil return. Sole proprietors with a December 31 year end file by June 15 but must pay by April 30.

GST/HST for Online Sellers in Canada (2026)

Short answer: Canada has a 5% federal GST everywhere, a combined HST of 13% to 15% in five provinces, and separate provincial taxes in British Columbia (7% PST), Saskatchewan (6% PST), Manitoba (7% RST) and Quebec (9.975% QST). You register for GST/HST once your sales pass $30,000, then charge the rate of the province where each order is delivered. Sales to the US are zero-rated exports, but they bring US duty and, past certain thresholds, US sales tax.

This hub is for small Canadian businesses selling online: Shopify, WooCommerce and BigCommerce stores, with Etsy or Amazon on the side, shipping to customers across Canada and into the US. It’s current as of 1 November 2026.

What applies to you: find your situation

You are…	GST/HST	Provincial tax (PST/RST/QST)	Start here
Selling under $30,000 a year, in Canada only	Optional. You’re a small supplier	Usually none, unless you sell into SK or MB (see below)	Small supplier threshold
Over $30,000 in any four consecutive quarters	Register and charge GST/HST at the customer’s province rate	Check each province you ship to	How to register for GST/HST
Shipping lots of orders to BC	Charge 5% GST	Register for BC PST once BC sales pass $10,000 in 12 months	BC PST
Shipping to Quebec consumers	Charge 5% GST	Register for QST once Quebec sales pass $30,000 in 12 months	Quebec QST
Shipping to Saskatchewan or Manitoba	Charge 5% GST	Out-of-province sellers are generally expected to register	Selling across Canada
Shipping to US customers	0%: zero-rated export	None	Selling to US customers
Selling on Etsy or Amazon only	Etsy and Amazon collect if you’re not registered	Marketplaces collect BC, SK and MB tax	Selling on Amazon Canada

Not sure what a given order should cost? The GST/HST calculator adds or removes the right tax for every province.

The four sales taxes in Canada

Canada has one federal sales tax and three ways provinces add their own.

GST (Goods and Services Tax), 5%. Charged across Canada by the CRA. In Alberta and the three territories, it’s the only sales tax.
HST (Harmonized Sales Tax). Ontario, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, and PEI merged their provincial tax with the GST into one tax. It’s 13% in Ontario, 14% in Nova Scotia and 15% in the other three. You don’t register separately for HST: it’s part of your GST/HST account.
PST and RST (provincial sales tax). British Columbia (7%) and Saskatchewan (6%) charge a separate PST, and Manitoba charges a 7% Retail Sales Tax. Each has its own registration, return and rules on what’s taxable.
QST (Quebec Sales Tax), 9.975%. Quebec’s own value-added tax, run by Revenu Québec, which also administers the GST for most Quebec businesses.

See every rate side by side in sales tax by province, or read the plain-English explainer GST vs HST vs PST.

Province or territory	Rate you charge as a GST/HST registrant	Plus, only if registered there
Ontario	13% HST	—
Nova Scotia	14% HST	—
New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, PEI	15% HST	—
British Columbia	5% GST	7% PST
Saskatchewan	5% GST	6% PST
Manitoba	5% GST	7% RST
Quebec	5% GST	9.975% QST
Alberta, Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut	5% GST	—

When you have to register: the $30,000 rule

You’re a small supplier as long as your total worldwide taxable sales stay at or below $30,000 in a single calendar quarter and over the last four consecutive calendar quarters. That total includes:

sales from every channel: your Shopify or WooCommerce store, Etsy, Amazon, markets and wholesale;
zero-rated sales, including exports to US customers;
the sales of any associated businesses.

Once you go over, you have to register within 29 days and start charging GST/HST. Crossing $30,000 in one quarter means you charge tax on the very sale that takes you over. Crossing it over four quarters gives you a short grace period to the end of the following month. The small supplier threshold guide walks through both tests with examples, and explains when registering early makes sense.

Registration is free and done with the CRA through Business Registration Online, My Business Account, by phone or with Form RC1. You get a nine-digit Business Number with an RT0001 account on the end. Quebec businesses register for both GST and QST with Revenu Québec instead. Step-by-step: how to register for GST/HST, or for GST and QST in Quebec.

Which province’s tax to charge

For goods you ship, the place of supply is where the order is delivered. So a GST/HST registrant charges the rate of the customer’s province, not their own:

A Calgary seller shipping a $100 order to Toronto charges 13% HST ($13), even though Alberta has only GST.
A Toronto seller shipping the same order to Calgary charges 5% GST ($5), not Ontario’s 13%.
A Halifax seller shipping to Vancouver charges 5% GST, plus 7% BC PST only if registered for BC PST.

Digital products and services sold to Canadian consumers generally follow the customer’s address too. Shipping you charge on an order is taxed at the same rate as the goods. Full detail with a worked example: selling across Canada.

Provincial tax as an out-of-province seller

GST/HST registration doesn’t cover the four provinces with their own sales tax. If you ship there regularly, you may need to register with them directly:

Province	Tax	When an out-of-province Canadian seller must register
British Columbia	PST 7%	BC sales of goods, software and telecom over $10,000 in the past 12 months (or expected in the next 12), and you deliver into BC. Sooner if you hold stock in BC
Saskatchewan	PST 6%	No minimum. You sell taxable goods to Saskatchewan customers, accept their orders and deliver there
Manitoba	RST 7%	You deliver into Manitoba, advertise there and accept orders from there. The $30,000 small business exception usually doesn’t apply to sellers based outside Manitoba
Quebec	QST 9.975%	Sales to Quebec consumers over $30,000 in 12 months, under the specified (simplified) QST system

Province guides: Ontario HST · BC PST · Quebec QST · Alberta GST · Saskatchewan PST · Manitoba PST · Nova Scotia HST · New Brunswick HST · Newfoundland and Labrador HST · PEI HST

Worked example: a Calgary ceramics studio crosses $30,000

Clay & Coulee is a one-person ceramics studio in Calgary. It sells mugs and planters on Shopify and Etsy. In 2026 its sales by calendar quarter were:

Quarter	Shopify	Etsy	US orders (zero-rated)	Total	Last four quarters
Q4 2025	$3,100	$1,400	$900	$5,400	—
Q1 2026	$4,200	$1,800	$1,200	$7,200	—
Q2 2026	$5,600	$2,100	$1,700	$9,400	—
Q3 2026	$6,900	$2,300	$2,000	$11,200	$33,200

No single quarter passed $30,000, but the four quarters to 30 September 2026 total $33,200. Clay & Coulee stopped being a small supplier at the end of October 2026 (the month after the quarter in which it went over), so it must charge GST/HST from 1 November 2026 and register within 29 days. Note that the US orders count, even though no GST/HST is charged on them, and so do Etsy sales.

From November, a $48 mug shipped to:

Edmonton: 5% GST = $2.40, customer pays $50.40
Ottawa: 13% HST = $6.24, customer pays $54.24
Halifax: 14% HST = $6.72, customer pays $54.72
Seattle: 0%, zero-rated export, customer pays $48 (plus any US duty)

Clay & Coulee can now also claim back the GST/HST it pays on clay, glaze, kiln repairs, shipping labels and its Shopify and Etsy fees as input tax credits.

Selling to the US from Canada

US orders are simple on the Canadian side and complicated on the US side.

GST/HST: goods you ship to a US customer are zero-rated exports. Charge 0%, keep tracking or a commercial invoice as proof, and count the sale towards your $30,000. See do you charge GST/HST to US customers?
US duty and tariffs: the US$800 duty-free de minimis rule has been suspended since 29 August 2025, so nearly every parcel owes US duty. Canadian goods also face a 10% Section 301 tariff unless they qualify under CUSMA, and a 50% Section 338 tariff on a list of products including apparel and furniture. Canada Post requires the duty to be prepaid. Full detail: selling to US customers and US tariffs on Canada for small sellers.
US sales tax: Etsy, Amazon and eBay collect it for you. Through your own store, you only register in a state after passing its economic nexus threshold, usually US$100,000 a year. See US sales tax for Canadian sellers.

Setting up tax on your store

Once you’re registered, your store has to charge the right rate for every province:

Only turn on PST or QST for the provinces where you actually hold a registration. Charging a tax you aren’t registered for is as much a problem as not charging one you owe. For the bigger picture across platforms, read sales tax for Canadian online stores.

Filing GST/HST returns

How often: annual if your taxable sales are $1.5 million or less (most small sellers), quarterly up to $6 million, monthly above that. You can choose to file more often.
When: quarterly and monthly returns are due one month after the period ends. Annual returns are due three months after your year end. Sole proprietors with a December 31 year end file by June 15 but pay by April 30.
How: every GST/HST return must be filed electronically, including nil returns. Most small sellers use GST/HST NETFILE or My Business Account.
Paying less: the Quick Method lets businesses with up to $400,000 in sales remit a flat percentage instead of tracking every input tax credit.
Late: the late filing penalty is 1% of the balance owing plus 0.25% for each full month late, up to 12 months, plus interest.

The GST/HST return guide covers the lines on the return, deadlines and instalments.

All Canada guides

Rates and rules

Registration

Returns and credits

Provinces

Selling to the US

Store setup

Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, Amazon

From the blog

Tools

Official sources

CRA: GST/HST rates by province
CRA: When to register for and start charging GST/HST
CRA: Register for a GST/HST account
CRA: GST/HST on imports and exports
BC: Bulletin PST 001, Registering to collect PST
Manitoba: Bulletin 004, Information for vendors
Revenu Québec: Registration under the specified system

How GoodVat helps Canadian sellers

Tracks your sales from Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, Etsy and Amazon against the $30,000 GST/HST threshold, the BC, Manitoba and Quebec thresholds, and US state nexus thresholds
Calculates GST, HST, PST and QST at checkout at the right rate for every province
Registers you for GST/HST, PST and QST through our Canadian accountant partners, priced per registration and quoted upfront
Files your returns, or gives you a ready-to-file return to submit yourself. Free up to 50 transactions a month, then from $20/month