Canada imposes sales tax at both the federal and provincial level. The applicable tax type, rate, and rules depend on the province or territory where the customer is located. If your business sells to Canadian customers, Solidgate Tax handles the calculation and collection across all provinces and territories after you configure the relevant locations. It also provides the tax summary and transaction reports for your records.
Provinces and territories
Solidgate calculates tax across all 13 Canadian provinces and territories. Canadian sales tax follows three models:
- GST-only jurisdictions – Alberta, Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut charge only the 5% federal GST. There is no provincial sales tax.
- HST jurisdictions – Ontario, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Prince Edward Island combine the federal GST and a provincial component into a single Harmonized Sales Tax (HST), administered by the CRA. Rates range from 13% to 15%.
- GST + separate provincial tax – British Columbia (PST), Saskatchewan (PST), Manitoba (RST), and Quebec (QST) charge the 5% GST alongside a separate provincial tax. Each province administers its own provincial tax and requires its own registration.
- GST (Goods and Services Tax)
A 5% federal tax that applies across Canada. - HST (Harmonized Sales Tax)
A combined federal and provincial tax used in Ontario, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. Rates range from 13% to 15%. - PST (Provincial Sales Tax)
A separate provincial tax in British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. - QST (Quebec Sales Tax)
Quebec provincial tax, calculated separately from the 5% GST.
For each supported jurisdiction, Solidgate covers the following standard areas:
| Area | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Tax types | GST, HST, PST, or QST, depending on the province |
| Registration threshold | Revenue or activity level that triggers a registration obligation |
| Taxable products | Product categories subject to tax in the jurisdiction, mapped through Solidgate tax categories |
| Transaction types | Sales, refunds, chargebacks, and other actions that generate tax events |
When and how to register
Carry on business in Canada
Canada uses the concept of carrying on business to determine whether a non-resident business needs to register for GST/HST. A business is considered to be carrying on business in Canada if it:
- Regularly sells goods or services to Canadian customers
- Has a place of business, employees, or agents in Canada
- Solicits orders or offers goods or services directed at the Canadian market
The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) requires non-resident businesses that meet these criteria and exceed the CAD 30,000 small-supplier threshold over four consecutive calendar quarters to register for a GST/HST account.
Simplified GST/HST for digital economy sellers
A separate registration path applies to non-resident businesses that sell digital products or services directly to Canadian consumers. This applies even if the business does not carry on business in Canada under the criteria above.
The CRA requires these sellers to register for a simplified GST/HST account once their sales to Canadian consumers exceed CAD 30,000 over any 12-month period, compared to the four-calendar-quarter window used for the standard carrying-on-business test.
When you enable the Simplified GST/HST location in the Taxes > Locations section of Solidgate Hub, Solidgate automatically calculates the federal GST (or the full HST, for HST provinces) on transactions across all 13 provinces and territories. No additional per-province setup is needed for the federal portion.
Provincial registration
For provinces with PST (British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba) or QST (Quebec), separate provincial registration might be required. Each province sets its own rules for when out-of-province or non-resident sellers must register.
Register with tax authorities
After you determine that registration is required:
Configure locations in Hub
After you register, add your registrations through Taxes > Locations in the Solidgate Hub:
| Tax type | What it does |
|---|---|
| Simplified GST/HST | Enable this location to collect federal GST (or HST in the five HST provinces) across all Canadian provinces and territories. This single toggle covers the federal tax component for every province, including those with separate provincial taxes. |
|
PST – British Columbia PST – Saskatchewan QST – Quebec RST – Manitoba | Enable a provincial location only if you hold a separate registration in that province. Solidgate adds the province-specific PST, QST, or RST on top of the federal tax that is already covered by the Simplified GST/HST location. If you are not registered in a province, do not enable it as the federal tax for the province is still calculated through the Simplified GST/HST location. |
How tax is calculated
Solidgate Tax determines the correct tax on each transaction by evaluating the following factors:
| Factor | Description |
|---|---|
| Business location | The province or country of your company's legal entity address on file with Solidgate |
| Active tax registrations | The provinces and territories you configured in the Taxes > Locations section of Solidgate Hub |
| Customer location | Resolved from the country on the billing address and the postal code supplied by the customer, payment method, or provider. If no postal code is available, Solidgate falls back to IP-based geolocation |
| Product tax category | The category you assigned to the product in your catalog |
| Customer status | Whether you mark the buyer as an individual consumer (B2C) or a business (B2B) |
Solidgate resolves each customer address down to its province or territory and applies the corresponding tax rate. The rule that determines which rate applies depends on where your business and your customer are each located:
Same province
When your business is based in Canada, and you sell to a customer in the same province, Solidgate applies the local tax rate for that province. For example, a sale from an Ontario-based business to an Ontario customer is subject to 13% HST.
Different province
When your customer is in a different province, Solidgate applies tax based on the customer location. This follows the destination principle that governs most Canadian sales tax rules.
From abroad
For sellers based outside Canada, Solidgate calculates GST/HST (and PST or QST where applicable) at the customer province rate, as long as you hold an active registration for that location. Without a registration, the transaction is treated as a zero-rated export from your home country and no Canadian tax is applied.
Product type matters
How a product is taxed depends on its type:
| Product type | Tax treatment |
|---|---|
| Digital products (SaaS, e-books, streaming) | Generally subject to GST/HST across all provinces, and to PST or QST in provinces that tax digital goods. |
| Services | Tax treatment varies by province and service type. Some provinces exempt specific services from PST. |
| Physical goods | Subject to GST/HST and applicable PST or QST. Exports of physical goods from Canada are typically zero-rated. |
Zero-rating and exemptions
The following supplies are zero-rated (taxed at 0%) under Canadian tax law:
- Exports of goods and services for use outside Canada
- Basic grocery items
- Specific medical devices and prescription drugs
Solidgate applies these zero-rated classifications automatically based on the product tax category and the customer location.
Postal code updates and tax recalculation
If tax was not calculated on a transaction, for example, because the customer’s postal code was missing or invalid, you can update the postal code and trigger a recalculation. Solidgate recalculates the tax as if it had been included in the original transaction amount. This recalculation applies to standalone transactions, not to invoice line items or transactions in AUTH status.
Reports and filing
Solidgate provides tax data exports, both transactional and summary reports, that cover all Canadian tax calculations. The transactional report breaks down amounts by tax type (GST, HST, PST, and QST) and province. The summary report provides province-level totals by tax rate.
You can generate and download tax reports through the Solidgate Hub or the API.