Selling on Shopify comes with a catch that Amazon sellers do not have. On a marketplace, the platform collects and remits provincial sales tax for you. On Shopify, there is no marketplace in the middle, so that job is yours. Shopify can charge the tax at checkout, but only if you have registered and told it to, and it never files the returns for you.
Shopify collects. It does not file.
This trips up a lot of sellers. Shopify’s tax settings can calculate and add PST, RST, or QST to an order, but two things are still on you:
- Registering with each province you owe, and entering that number in Shopify so it charges the right tax.
- Filing the returns and remitting what you collected, on each province’s schedule.
Turning on the tax setting without registering first does not make you compliant. And collecting the tax without filing it just means you are holding money the province expects back.
Which provinces you have to register for
Only four provinces run their own sales tax. As a Shopify seller with direct sales, here is when each one applies:
| Province | Register when |
|---|---|
| Saskatchewan (PST 6%) | From your first sale into the province. No minimum. |
| Manitoba (RST 7%) | Effectively from your first sale for out-of-province sellers. |
| British Columbia (PST 7%) | Once your BC sales pass $10,000, or right away if you store inventory in BC. |
| Quebec (QST 9.975%) | Once your Quebec sales pass $30,000. Digital products are caught from the first dollar. |
The other provinces are already covered by your GST/HST number or have no provincial sales tax, so there is nothing extra to do for them.
Where you fulfil from matters
One detail catches Shopify sellers by surprise. If you use Amazon to ship your Shopify orders (Multi-Channel Fulfillment or Buy with Prime), Amazon is only acting as a courier, so it does not collect the tax on those sales. You do. And if those orders ship from an Amazon warehouse in British Columbia, that alone can require you to register for BC PST, even if the rest of your BC sales are small.
So it is worth knowing not just where your customers are, but where your orders physically ship from.
Setting it up in Shopify
Once you are registered, the mechanics in Shopify are straightforward:
- Go to Settings, then Taxes and duties, then Canada.
- Enter your registration number for each province you are registered in.
- Shopify then charges the correct provincial tax on orders shipping there.
That handles collection. Filing the returns each period is the part Shopify does not do, and the part most sellers would rather hand off.
Frequently asked questions
Does Shopify remit sales tax for me like Amazon does?
No. Shopify can calculate and charge the tax, but it does not remit or file it. That is different from a marketplace like Amazon, which does both on its own sales.
Do I need to register in all four provinces?
Only the ones you owe. Many Shopify sellers owe Saskatchewan and Manitoba from small volumes, and BC or Quebec once they grow. We can tell you which ones apply to you.
What happens if I collect the tax but do not file?
You are holding tax the province expects to be remitted. Registering and filing keeps the account in good standing and avoids penalties and interest later.
Related guides
- Do you need to register for PST as an online seller?
- Does Amazon collect PST and QST in Canada?
- PST for US and non-resident sellers
Let us handle the provinces
If you sell on Shopify, the collection setting is the easy part. The registrations and the ongoing returns are the work. Tell us your sales by province and where your orders ship from, and we will tell you exactly which provinces to register for, then set up collection and file the returns for you as your authorized representative.
See how our PST and QST registration service works, or get in touch and we will tell you exactly which provinces you need to register for.