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A Shopify store is taxed like any other business that sells goods. Once your taxable sales pass $30,000 over four consecutive calendar quarters, you have to register for GST/HST and collect it from customers. Whatever your checkout calculates, the registration, the return and the income tax stay with you, and the platform doesn’t change that.
When does a Shopify store have to register for GST/HST?
Under the CRA’s small supplier rule, you can stay unregistered while your taxable revenue, counting associated businesses, stays at or under $30,000. The test looks at a single calendar quarter and at the last four quarters together.
The details matter, and they’re easy to get wrong. If one quarter alone goes over $30,000, you must register at once and charge tax on the sale that pushed you over. If you cross it gradually over several quarters, you stop being a small supplier at the end of the month after the quarter in which you passed $30,000. You then have 29 days from your effective date to register, as the CRA’s page on when to register for and start charging the GST/HST explains.
Here’s how the slow version looks. Say a store sells $5,000, $6,000, $8,000 and $12,000 of taxable goods in four quarters in a row. No single quarter tops $30,000, but together they come to $31,000. That’s enough, so the store stops being a small supplier at the end of the month following that fourth quarter.
You can also register early. It’s optional, and it opens the door to claiming input tax credits on what the store buys. If you spend a lot on inventory and software before you make many sales, that’s worth thinking about. I didn’t verify how the credits work in detail here, so read the CRA’s page before you decide.
Which tax do you charge on an order?
For goods sent by courier, the sale is made in the province where the goods are delivered. You charge the rate for that province, and it’s worked out on the final selling price. Participating provinces (New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ontario and Prince Edward Island) use HST. Everywhere else it starts with the 5% GST.
So one store can charge several rates in a single afternoon. Here’s a $2,000 order run through the GST/HST calculator.
| Delivered to | Tax charged | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Ontario | $260 HST at 13% | $2,260 |
| Alberta | $100 GST at 5% | $2,100 |
Some provinces add their own sales tax on top of GST. Quebec’s GST and QST calculator handles that pair, and the GST and PST calculator covers the provinces with a separate PST. Whether you have to register for those provincial taxes depends on the province, so check its own government page. The BC figure in that tool applies 12% to everything, so treat it as an upper estimate for goods that carry less.
Digital products follow a different rule. If you sell downloads, subscriptions or software next to physical goods, check the place of supply for each product line separately instead of assuming one answer covers the whole catalogue. For those, the answer is tied to the customer, not to where you ship from.
What about income tax on the profit?
GST/HST isn’t your income. You collect it for the government, so keep it out of your sales figure. What’s left after costs is business income, and how it’s taxed depends on how you set up.
As a sole proprietor, you report profit on your own return and pay income tax plus both halves of CPP. On $80,000 of net income in Ontario, the self-employed tax calculator shows $22,126 of tax and CPP combined. It leaves out EI and GST/HST, so use it for income only.
Through a corporation, the corporate tax calculator gives $35,088 on $300,000 in Ontario, or about 11.7%. That rate is a blend I derived for a calendar 2026 year, because Ontario changed its small business rate on July 1, 2026. Treat it as approximate. It also leaves out tax on what you pay yourself.
Whichever route you take, nobody withholds tax from a store’s profit. Set a few bucks aside from every payout so tax time doesn’t land like a brick.
Where do Shopify owners slip up?
Counting late is the classic one. It hurts. Owners watch annual revenue and forget the quarter test. A big holiday quarter can tip you over $30,000 in one go.
Another is trusting the checkout blindly. Even if it charges the right rate, filing the return wrong is a separate risk, and only you can fix it. And sales outside Canada may be zero-rated exports if they meet the CRA’s conditions, but don’t assume so, since that depends on who the buyer is and what proof you hold.
If a customer sends something back, our page on returns and refunds in e-commerce shows how to adjust the tax. As for apps and fees, I couldn’t confirm which suit which store, so I won’t guess.
What should you do this month?
Pull your sales by quarter for the last year and add them up. If the four-quarter total is near $30,000, or one quarter is, talk to an accountant or read the CRA’s registration pages before the next busy season. If you’re well under, just keep the running total up to date. It takes about ten minutes.
Where these figures come from
The $30,000 rule, place of supply and registration steps come from the Canada Revenue Agency‘s GST/HST pages for e-commerce and registration. The rates and dollar examples come from this site’s calculators, which use 2026 figures. The quarterly sales in the example are made up. This site isn’t affiliated with the CRA or Shopify.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to charge GST/HST on my Shopify store?
Once your taxable revenue passes the $30,000 small supplier threshold you must register and charge it. Below that you can choose to register anyway.
How is the $30,000 measured?
Over a single calendar quarter and over the last four consecutive quarters, counting associated businesses.
Which rate do I charge a customer in another province?
For goods delivered by courier, the rate of the province of delivery: HST in participating provinces, otherwise 5% GST plus any provincial tax.
Is my Shopify income taxed differently?
No. Profit is business income, taxed on your personal return as a sole proprietor or in a corporation.
Does Shopify file my GST/HST return?
No. The registrant files the return with the CRA. We couldn't confirm what any platform tool does beyond calculating tax at checkout.
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