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Selling on Amazon Canada: Who Pays the GST/HST?

Short answer: if you’re not registered for GST/HST, Amazon charges, collects and remits the GST/HST on your Amazon.ca orders for you. If you are registered and your number is in Seller Central, Amazon still adds the tax at checkout, but it pays it out to you and you remit it to the CRA. Either way, your Amazon sales count towards the $30,000 registration threshold, and once you register you can claim back the GST/HST on your Amazon fees, ads and stock.

This guide is for Canadian businesses selling on Amazon.ca, through FBA or shipping orders themselves, often alongside a Shopify store or Etsy shop. Selling into Canada from the US or abroad? See Amazon FBA Canada for non-resident sellers.

Who remits the GST/HST: find your situation

Section titled “Who remits the GST/HST: find your situation”
Your situationWho charges and remits GST/HST on Amazon.ca ordersWhat you do
Not registered (a small supplier under $30,000)AmazonNothing on Amazon’s orders. Track your total sales against $30,000
Over $30,000 but haven’t registered yetAmazon, but you’re already liable from the date you should have registeredRegister now, then add your number to Seller Central. See registering late
Registered, number added in Seller CentralYou. Amazon calculates and collects it at checkout, then passes it to youRemit it on your GST/HST return, claim input tax credits
Registered, but number not in Seller CentralAmazon keeps remitting, but your own obligation hasn’t gone awayAdd your number. Talk to an accountant about the orders in between
Holding only a simplified GST/HST numberAmazon. A simplified registration doesn’t countSimplified registration is for foreign digital businesses, not Canadian sellers
Selling on Amazon.com to US buyersNo GST/HST. Amazon collects US sales taxCount the sales towards $30,000

How Amazon’s tax collection works

Section titled “How Amazon’s tax collection works”

Since 1 July 2021, Canada’s digital economy rules make an online marketplace collect GST/HST on goods sold through it by sellers who aren’t registered under the normal GST/HST system. The rules cover goods located in Canada at the time of sale, which means:

  • FBA orders from Amazon’s Canadian fulfilment centres, and
  • FBM orders you ship yourself from inside Canada.

Amazon charges the buyer the rate for the province the order is delivered to (5% GST, or 13% to 15% HST), keeps that tax out of your payout and sends it to the CRA. In your settlement reports it shows up as marketplace facilitator or marketplace withheld tax. That tax was never yours: it isn’t part of your sales, and you don’t put it on a GST/HST return.

Goods shipped to a Canadian buyer from outside Canada aren’t covered. The buyer pays the GST or HST at the border instead.

Provincial taxes on Amazon.ca

Section titled “Provincial taxes on Amazon.ca”

Amazon handles provincial sales tax too, on its own rules for each province:

ProvinceAmazon collects
Saskatchewan (6% PST)On every order, whatever your registration status
Manitoba (7% RST)On every order, whatever your registration status
British Columbia (7% PST)When you haven’t given Amazon a BC PST number
Quebec (9.975% QST)When you haven’t given Amazon a QST number

So an Amazon-only seller usually doesn’t need a provincial registration. Your own website is different: a Shopify store shipping to BC, Saskatchewan, Manitoba or Quebec has its own provincial thresholds.

Your Amazon sales still count towards $30,000

Section titled “Your Amazon sales still count towards $30,000”

This is the part that catches Amazon sellers. Amazon collecting the tax doesn’t take those sales out of your small supplier test. The Excise Tax Act treats Amazon as the supplier for collecting GST/HST, but makes a specific exception for the small supplier rule, so the sales still count as yours.

Add up, across every channel:

  • Amazon.ca sales (FBA and FBM),
  • Amazon.com and other Amazon stores,
  • your Shopify or WooCommerce store, Etsy and eBay,
  • wholesale orders and markets.

Use sales before Amazon’s fees, not your payout. Once the total goes over $30,000 in one calendar quarter or over four consecutive quarters, you must register within 29 days. The $30,000 guide explains when your registration starts for each test.

Once you register: setting up Seller Central

Section titled “Once you register: setting up Seller Central”
  1. Register with the CRA. You get a nine-digit Business Number with an RT0001 account on the end. Step by step: how to register for GST/HST. In Quebec you register for GST and QST with Revenu Québec.
  2. Add the number in Seller Central. Go to Settings → Tax Settings and enter the full number, for example 123456789RT0001. Put it in both the tax calculation settings and the VAT/GST information page. Amazon uses the second one for its fee invoices: with your number there, it stops charging GST/HST on your selling fees for stores outside Canada, such as Amazon.com.
  3. Check your product tax codes. Amazon works out the tax from the buyer’s province and each product’s tax code. Most goods use the standard taxable code. Zero-rated goods, such as basic groceries, need the right code or Amazon will charge tax on them. See zero-rated vs exempt supplies.
  4. Add provincial numbers only if you hold them. If you’ve registered for BC PST or QST for your own store, you can add those too, and Amazon will pass that tax to you instead of remitting it.
  5. Check the first orders. On orders after your effective date, the GST/HST should appear in your payout rather than as withheld tax.

From then on, the GST/HST in your Amazon payouts is a liability, not income. You report it on your GST/HST return along with tax from your other channels.

Worked example: a Kitchener FBA seller registers

Section titled “Worked example: a Kitchener FBA seller registers”

North Shelf Goods sells kitchen storage from Kitchener, Ontario, through FBA on Amazon.ca and Amazon.com. In its first year it sells $21,000 on Amazon.ca and $11,000 on Amazon.com. It isn’t registered, so Amazon charges the tax on each Canadian order. A $40 set of jars delivered to Halifax gets 14% Nova Scotia HST ($5.60), and Amazon remits it.

At the end of December, its last four quarters add up to $32,000. The Amazon.com sales count, and so do the Amazon.ca sales Amazon was collecting on. No single quarter went over $30,000, so under the four-quarter test it stops being a small supplier at the end of January and must charge GST/HST from 1 February. It registers in January and adds its number in Seller Central before 1 February.

In its second year it sells $48,000 on Amazon.ca, mostly into Ontario. Amazon passes about $6,200 of GST/HST to it, which it now remits. Against that it claims input tax credits:

CostAmountGST/HST paid
Amazon referral and FBA fees$14,400$1,872
Sponsored Products ads$4,000$520
Import GST on stock from its overseas supplier$12,000 of goods$600
Total input tax credits$2,992

So it pays the CRA about $3,250, not $6,200. Buyers paid the same tax as before. The difference is the GST/HST on its costs that it now gets back.

Input tax credits on Amazon costs

Section titled “Input tax credits on Amazon costs”

Once you’re registered, the GST/HST you pay on business costs comes back to you as input tax credits (ITCs). For an Amazon seller that’s usually:

CostClaimable?
Referral fees, FBA fulfilment and storage fees, subscriptionYes. Amazon issues monthly fee invoices showing the GST/HST
Amazon advertisingYes
GST paid at the border on imported stockYes, with your customs paperwork
Stock, packaging and prep services bought in CanadaYes, if the supplier charged GST/HST
Inbound freight within Canada, customs broker feesYes
BC PST on fees or purchasesNo. Provincial PST isn’t an input tax credit

Watch for Amazon credit notes. When Amazon reverses tax on a fee, the credit note reduces your claim. Claiming every invoice and ignoring the credit notes overstates your ITCs.

Should you register before $30,000?

Section titled “Should you register before $30,000?”

Registering early means you remit the tax Amazon was collecting, but you also claim back GST/HST on your costs. For many Amazon sellers that pays, because fees, ads and imported stock are big costs:

  • Probably worth it if you import your stock, spend heavily on ads, or sell a lot on Amazon.com (sales you charge no GST/HST on, while you still pay it on Canadian costs).
  • Probably not yet if sales are small, costs are low, and you’d rather skip the filing.

The voluntary registration section has a worked comparison. If you register, the Quick Method may lower your filing work, though resellers who buy most of their stock usually do better with regular ITCs.

Registered late?

Section titled “Registered late?”

If you passed $30,000 and kept letting Amazon collect, the CRA registers you from the date you should have registered. You owe GST/HST on your sales from that date. Amazon.ca orders where Amazon already collected and remitted the tax generally aren’t taxed a second time, so don’t simply pay it again. Get an accountant to work out the back period, claim the ITCs you’re owed for it, and add your number in Seller Central straight away. The late registration section covers the basics.

Amazon.com and other stores

Section titled “Amazon.com and other stores”

Selling to US buyers on Amazon.com from Canada:

  • No GST/HST. Goods shipped to the US, or sold from a US FBA warehouse, aren’t taxed in Canada. Keep proof of export for goods shipped from Canada.
  • Amazon collects US sales tax in every state with a sales tax, as a marketplace facilitator. You don’t register in a state for those orders. Your own store is different: see US sales tax for Canadian sellers.
  • Duties and tariffs apply when your stock crosses into the US. See shipping to the US from Canada.
  • Count it. Amazon.com sales go towards your $30,000 Canadian threshold.

Common mistakes

Section titled “Common mistakes”
  • Counting payouts instead of sales. The $30,000 test uses sales before Amazon’s fees.
  • Leaving Amazon.com out of the total. US sales carry no GST/HST but still count.
  • Reporting Amazon’s withheld tax on your return. If Amazon remitted it, it’s not yours to remit again.
  • Registering but never updating Seller Central. Amazon keeps remitting, and your own obligation to charge tax goes unmet.
  • Keeping an old number on file. If you cancel your registration, remove the number, or Amazon will pass you tax you’re no longer allowed to collect. Amazon can recover tax it was assessed for from your future payouts.
  • Forgetting your other channels. Amazon only covers Amazon. Your Shopify or WooCommerce store needs its own setup: Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce.

Official sources

Section titled “Official sources”