Amazon Seller GST/HST in Canada

When Does an Amazon Seller Have to Register for GST/HST?

The general rule is the $30,000 small-supplier threshold. Once your taxable sales reach $30,000 over any rolling four consecutive calendar quarters, you are no longer a small supplier and must register for, charge and remit GST/HST. Many Amazon sellers cross this line faster than they expect once a product takes off, and registration is not automatic; it is your responsibility to track it and register on time.

There is also a strong case for registering voluntarily before you hit the threshold. Registering early lets you claim input tax credits on your startup and pre-launch costs, inventory, software, advertising and Amazon fees, which you otherwise lose. Sellers who manage their books well from day one, the approach we take across our Amazon seller accounting and tax services, often register voluntarily for exactly this reason.

The Number One Amazon GST/HST Mistake: Double-Reporting

This is the error that puts more Amazon sellers offside than any other. Amazon collects and remits GST/HST on many marketplace sales to Canadian buyers directly to the CRA. When Amazon has already collected and remitted that tax, it must not appear again on your GST/HST return as tax you collected. If you include it, you effectively remit the same tax twice, once through Amazon and once through your own filing.

The fix is to reconcile your Amazon settlement reports and cleanly separate marketplace-collected tax from the tax you collected yourself, on every single return. This separation is the heart of getting an Amazon seller's GST/HST right, and it is a core part of how we handle e-commerce accounting and tax for multi-channel sellers.

Claiming Input Tax Credits on FBA Fees and Ads

Registration is not only an obligation; it is also where the money comes back. As a registrant, you claim input tax credits for the GST/HST you pay on your Canadian business expenses, which offsets the tax you collect. For Amazon sellers, the recoverable amounts add up quickly:

Capturing every eligible credit is the difference between a clean filing and money left on the table. Sellers with significant international sales, which are zero-rated, often find themselves in a refund position because they collect little tax but pay it on all these Canadian costs.

International Sales Are Zero-Rated

If you sell to customers outside Canada, those sales are generally zero-rated. You charge 0% GST/HST on them, yet you still claim full input tax credits on your Canadian business expenses. This is why Amazon sellers with heavy US or international volume are frequently in a net GST/HST refund position every period: little tax collected, full credits claimed. Structuring filings to recognize this is one of the advantages of working with an accountant who understands cross-border Amazon FBA and Shopify seller tax.

Provincial PST and QST: The Layer Sellers Forget

GST/HST is federal, but several provinces run their own sales taxes that Amazon's collection may not fully cover for your situation. These have their own thresholds and registration rules and are easy to miss:

Non-Resident Amazon Sellers Selling Into Canada

If you live outside Canada but sell to Canadian customers through Amazon, you can still have Canadian GST/HST obligations. Whether you must register depends on your revenue, whether your inventory is stored in Canada, and how Amazon treats the tax on your sales. Non-resident sellers storing inventory in Canadian fulfilment centres in particular need to look closely at their registration and remittance position. This is a frequent question we handle for sellers entering the Canadian market.

A Simple Worked Example

Consider a registered FBA seller in a quarter:

Because Amazon handled the tax on its marketplace sales and the seller's recoverable credits exceeded the small amount of self-collected tax, the period ends in a refund. A seller who mistakenly added Amazon's collected tax to the return would have turned that refund into a needless payment.