How do I set up Canadian sales tax in BigCommerce?

Go to Settings, then Tax, and click Edit next to Basic Tax. On the Tax Rates and zones tab, create a tax zone for each province or group of provinces with the same rate, add the GST or HST rate to each zone, and add PST, RST or QST only in provinces where you're registered. Or connect an automatic tax provider instead.

How do I charge GST and PST together in BigCommerce?

Add both rates to the province's tax zone with the same priority, so each is calculated on the pre-tax price. BigCommerce uses a higher priority to put one tax on top of another, and no Canadian province compounds its sales tax any more. A $100 order to BC should show $5 GST and $7 PST.

Do I charge GST/HST on BigCommerce orders to the US?

No. Goods shipped to US customers are zero-rated exports, so no GST/HST applies. Keep your Canadian rates in Canadian zones and leave the default zone, which covers every location your other zones don't, without Canadian rates. Add US rates only for states where you've registered for sales tax.

Does BigCommerce file my GST/HST return?

No. BigCommerce doesn't register you or file returns. You file the GST/HST return with the CRA and any PST or QST returns with each province yourself, through an accountant, or through a tax service you connect, such as GoodVat with its Canadian accountant partners.

Set Up GST/HST and PST on BigCommerce (Canada)

Q: Does BigCommerce calculate GST/HST automatically?

Not with Basic Tax. Basic Tax uses the zones and rates you enter. For automatic rates you connect a tax service under Settings, Tax. BigCommerce lists Avalara, Vertex, TaxJar and TaxCloud as integrated providers, Stripe Tax is available as an app, and GoodVat also connects to BigCommerce.

Short answer: in Settings → Tax, edit Basic Tax and build one tax zone per province (or per group of provinces with the same rate). Give each zone its GST or HST rate. Add PST, RST or QST only where you’re registered, at the same priority as GST so the taxes don’t stack. Keep the default zone free of Canadian rates so US orders aren’t taxed. Or skip the tables and connect an automatic tax provider.

This guide is for Canadian small businesses on BigCommerce. It covers zones, rates and tax classes for Canada, automatic providers, US orders and filing. It’s current as of 1 November 2026. BigCommerce’s help centre has the full screen-by-screen detail, and labels can change, so use this as your map.

What to set up: find your situation

Your situation	What to set up in BigCommerce
Under $30,000 in sales across all channels, not registered	No Canadian tax yet. You’re a small supplier
Registered for GST/HST	A zone for each rate group with its GST or HST rate
Also registered for BC PST, Saskatchewan PST, Manitoba RST or QST	Add the provincial rate to that province’s zone
Selling zero-rated products	A zero-rated tax class with a 0% rate in every zone
Selling to US customers	No Canadian rates in the default zone. US rates only where registered
Want rates handled for you	An automatic tax provider (see providers)

How BigCommerce’s Basic Tax works

BigCommerce’s built-in option, Basic Tax (previously called manual tax), has three parts:

Tax zones: where a rate applies. A zone is defined by countries, by states and provinces, or by postal codes in one country. You can put several provinces in one zone.
Tax rates: the rates charged in a zone. A zone can have more than one rate, which is how you charge GST and PST together.
Tax classes: groups of products that get different rates, such as standard and zero-rated. Every product starts in the Default Tax Class, and shipping has its own class.

There’s always a default zone that covers every location your other zones don’t. You can’t delete it, and it’s what applies to US and other international orders unless you build zones for them.

To get there: go to Settings → Tax, click Edit next to Basic Tax, and use the Tax Rates and zones and Tax classes tabs.

Step 1: build your Canadian zones

GST/HST follows the province the goods are delivered to. A GST/HST-registered store charges 13% HST to Ontario customers wherever the store is. Group provinces by what you charge:

Zone	Provinces and territories	Rates (if you’re registered for GST/HST only)
Canada: GST	Alberta, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Yukon	GST 5%
British Columbia	BC	GST 5% (+ PST 7% if BC-registered)
Saskatchewan	SK	GST 5% (+ PST 6% if SK-registered)
Manitoba	MB	GST 5% (+ RST 7% if MB-registered)
Quebec	QC	GST 5% (+ QST 9.975% if QST-registered)
Ontario	ON	HST 13%
Nova Scotia	NS	HST 14% (since 1 April 2025)
HST 15%	New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, PEI	HST 15%

If you aren’t registered for any provincial tax, you can fold BC, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Quebec into the “Canada: GST” zone. Keeping them separate makes it easy to add PST later. Don’t let zones overlap: each province should sit in exactly one zone.

For each zone, add the rate with a clear name (GST, HST, PST, RST, QST), the percentage, and the zone’s tax classes. Turn on tax for shipping: GST/HST applies to shipping charges on taxable goods.

Step 2: GST and PST in the same zone

In a province with two taxes, add both rates to the zone at the same priority. BigCommerce can put one tax on top of another with a higher priority. Its own help article uses that to stack GST over PST. No Canadian province compounds any more: BC, Saskatchewan and Manitoba charge PST on the pre-tax price, and Quebec has charged QST on the pre-tax price since 2013.

Test it with an order. A $100 order delivered in BC from a store registered for BC PST should show GST $5.00, PST $7.00, total $112.00. If PST shows $7.35, the PST is being charged on the GST.

Which provincial rates to add, for sellers based outside the province:

BC PST 7%: once your goods, software and telecom sales to BC customers pass $10,000 in 12 months, or right away if you hold stock in BC. See BC PST.
Saskatchewan PST 6%: no minimum for out-of-province sellers of taxable goods delivered into Saskatchewan. See Saskatchewan PST.
Manitoba RST 7%: the $30,000 exception usually doesn’t help out-of-province online sellers. See Manitoba PST.
Quebec QST 9.975%: register under the specified system once sales to Quebec consumers pass $30,000 in 12 months. See Quebec QST.

Step 3: tax classes for zero-rated products

Most products small stores sell are taxable at the full rate. For zero-rated ones, such as basic groceries or feminine hygiene products:

On the Tax classes tab, add a class such as Zero-rated.
In each Canadian zone, set that class’s GST/HST rate to 0%.
Assign the class to those products.

Provincial exemptions work the same way. BC PST doesn’t apply to children’s-sized clothing, but GST does, so a BC PST exempt class would carry GST only in the BC zone. See zero-rated vs exempt supplies.

Step 4: show prices before tax

Each zone controls whether prices show inclusive or exclusive of tax. For Canadian zones, show prices excluding tax. That’s what Canadian shoppers expect, and with rates from 5% to 15% a tax-inclusive price would change your margin from province to province.

Worked example: a Victoria print shop

Salt Spring Press sells art prints on BigCommerce from Victoria, BC. It’s registered for GST/HST and BC PST, and nothing else. A customer orders a $60 print with $10 shipping.

Shipped to	Zone	Taxes	Customer pays
Vancouver, BC	British Columbia	GST $3.50 + PST $4.90	$78.40
Toronto, ON	Ontario	HST 13% = $9.10	$79.10
St. John’s, NL	HST 15%	HST 15% = $10.50	$80.50
Calgary, AB	Canada: GST	GST 5% = $3.50	$73.50
Portland, US	Default zone	None (zero-rated export)	$70.00

All the GST and HST goes on one return to the CRA. The PST goes on a separate BC return through eTaxBC.

Automatic tax providers

Instead of Basic Tax, you can connect a tax service under Settings → Tax. BigCommerce lists Avalara, Vertex, TaxJar and TaxCloud as integrated providers, and Stripe Tax is available as an app. For a Canadian store:

TaxJar and TaxCloud are US sales tax tools and don’t cover GST/HST.
Vertex’s BigCommerce app is listed for US and Canadian merchants and is aimed at large businesses, priced by quote.
Avalara prices Canadian coverage separately and suits stores with a tax team.
Stripe Tax calculates GST/HST, PST, QST and RST once you add your registrations, but only for orders paid through Stripe.
GoodVat for BigCommerce calculates GST/HST, PST, QST and US sales tax at checkout, counts your BigCommerce sales with your other channels against Canadian and US thresholds, and its Canadian accountant partners can register you and file.

A full comparison is in best sales tax software for Canadian sellers. Avalara’s setup lets you fall back to your Basic Tax rates if the service can’t be reached, so a clean Basic Tax table is useful either way.

Selling to US customers from BigCommerce

No Canadian tax: goods shipped to US customers are zero-rated exports. Leave the default zone without Canadian rates and US orders go out tax-free. Keep proof of export. See do you charge GST to US customers?
US sales tax: only once you have nexus in a state, usually more than US$100,000 of sales into it a year or stock in a US warehouse. Add a zone for that state, or use a provider. See US sales tax for Canadian sellers.
Duties: the US de minimis is suspended, so almost every parcel pays US duty. Decide whether you or your buyer pays it, and whether to ship by courier or Canada Post. See selling to US customers from Canada.

At filing time

BigCommerce doesn’t register you or file returns. Pull your tax report for the period, add sales from your other channels, then:

File one GST/HST return with the CRA for all GST and HST, online through NETFILE or My Business Account. Claim the GST/HST on your costs, including BigCommerce’s fees, as input tax credits.
File each PST, RST or QST return with its province.