How to set up PST and GST on Shopify in BC

How do I set up PST on Shopify in BC?

Register first, then switch it on. Get a PST number from BC and, once you need one, a GST number from the CRA. In Shopify, go to Settings, then Taxes and duties, then Canada, and click Collect sales tax. Add each region and its number. Shopify then adds the tax at checkout.

1. 01Decide what you must register for. PST in BC unless you qualify as a small seller. GST once taxable sales pass $30,000, or earlier if you choose to register.
2. 02Register for PST through eTaxBC, the province’s online tax service. Register for GST/HST with the Canada Revenue Agency.
3. 03In your Shopify admin, go to Settings, then Taxes and duties. In Tax regions, click Canada. In the Sales tax section, click Collect sales tax.
4. 04Select a region where you are registered and type your tax number. If you applied and the number has not arrived, leave the box blank and add it later. Click Collect sales tax.
5. 05Click Collect sales tax again for each other registration, like GST for Canada and PST for British Columbia.
6. 06Place a test order to a BC address and one to another province. Check each tax line on the receipt before a real customer sees it.

Shopify’s help centre states the part people skip. You are responsible for charging the correct rates and for filing and remitting the tax. Shopify does the math on each order. You still file PST returns with BC and GST/HST returns with the CRA.

Some products follow different rules, like children’s clothing or groceries. Shopify lets you set a tax override for a product when the default rate does not apply. Check your own products against the BC bulletins before you launch.

Do I need to register for PST as an online seller in BC?

Yes, if you sell taxable goods in BC in the ordinary course of business. The province says you cannot make retail sales without a PST number unless you qualify as a small seller. The general PST rate is 7%. Selling online from home does not exempt you by itself.

Bulletin PST 003, revised in July 2026, sets out the small seller test. You are a small seller only if every line below is true. I have kept the bulletin’s tests and shortened the wording.

• You are located in BC, with no established business premises, and you do not regularly sell from established commercial premises.
• You sell eligible goods, software or services at retail.
• Your gross revenue from all retail sales of eligible goods, software and services was $10,000 or less in the previous 12 months, and you expect $10,000 or less in the next 12 months.
• You made no wholesale sales in the previous 12 months.
• You do not sell vehicles, tobacco, vapour products, boats, aircraft, fossil fuel combustion systems, accommodation or cannabis, and you sell liquor only in the narrow cases the bulletin allows.
• You are not a lessor, an independent sales contractor, a contractor installing goods into real property, or an online marketplace facilitator.

Two details catch people. First, the $10,000 counts all your retail sales of eligible goods, software and services, including sales made outside BC or outside Canada. Second, it runs on the previous 12 consecutive months, not the calendar year. If you pass $10,000 at any point, you must register.

A small seller must not charge PST at all. If you charge it by mistake, the bulletin says you must still send that money to the province on a Casual Remittance Return, form FIN 405. You also pay PST yourself on the supplies you buy to make your goods, because the resale exemption only comes with registration.

Does selling at a market change the PST rule?

It can. The bulletin counts a stall at a farmers market as established commercial premises. Selling from one regularly, meaning four or more times in 12 months, means you are not a small seller, even under $10,000. A few markets a year, plus online sales from home, can still qualify.

This one matters in the Kootenays, where summer markets carry a lot of small makers. The bulletin gives its own examples. A seller at a monthly kiosk does not qualify. A seller at a recreation centre three times a year can. A seller who works online from home, with no storefront or sales room in the house, can qualify if they stay at $10,000 or less.

The small seller test is about where you sell as much as how much. A weekly market stall ends it at any revenue.

If you are close to the line, the bulletin suggests registering in advance. Registration also lets you buy goods for resale without paying PST on them. If you are still deciding whether a store is worth running at all, is Shopify worth it for a small Kootenay store walks through that choice first.

Do I need to register for GST/HST for my Shopify store?

Once your taxable sales pass $30,000. The CRA says you stop being a small supplier when you go over $30,000 in a single calendar quarter, or over four consecutive calendar quarters. You then have 29 days to register. You can register earlier by choice.

The timing depends on how you cross the line. Go over $30,000 inside one quarter and you charge GST/HST starting with the sale that took you over. Cross it across four quarters and you stop being a small supplier at the end of the month after that quarter. The CRA page was modified June 16, 2026.

Registering early has one practical upside. Only GST/HST registrants can claim input tax credits, which get back the GST you pay on business purchases. A store buying stock, packaging and a website build pays GST on all of it. Your accountant can tell you whether early registration pays in your case.

What tax does a BC store charge a customer in another province?

BC PST stays in BC. You do not charge it on goods shipped outside the province, as long as you keep the shipping records. GST/HST follows the customer. The CRA’s own example has a BC store charging 13% HST on goods delivered to Ontario.

The CRA calls this the place of supply. For goods you deliver, it is where the customer receives them. So a registered BC store charges 5% GST to a customer in Alberta and 13% HST to a customer in Ontario. Your test orders to other provinces should show these rates.

Shipping charges usually carry tax too. Bulletin PST 302 says delivery charges generally form part of the taxable price of the goods. For goods shipped out of BC, it says to keep bills of lading, shipping invoices or similar records to show why you did not charge PST. Those same shipping costs belong in your budget, and the full-year cost of an online store in Canada adds them up with the rest.

What does Shopify charge to calculate Canadian tax?

Shopify Tax is free until a store reaches $100,000 CAD in global sales. After that, most plans pay 0.25% on each Canadian order it calculates, capped at $0.99 CAD per order. Plus stores pay 0.15%. Those fees apply from August 15, 2026, per Shopify’s help centre.

Older stores have a choice. Shopify’s Basic Tax service stays available in Canada only to stores that were set up to collect tax there before May 13, 2026. A newer store uses Shopify Tax or sets its rates by hand. A $100 order past the threshold costs 25 cents in tax calculation on most plans.

Card fees are a separate bill from the tax fee. The comparison of Stripe, Square, PayPal and Shopify Payments fees in Canada covers those rates.

This guide is general information, not tax advice. For your own store, ask an accountant, or call BC’s Ministry of Finance at 1-877-388-4440.

Sources and further reading

• Bulletin PST 003, Small Sellers (Government of BC)

  Read September 23, 2026 (revised July 2026). The full small seller test, the $10,000 limit over the previous and next 12 months, the regular-sales rule of four or more occasions, and the market stall example.

• Bulletin PST 001, Registering to Collect PST (Government of BC)

  Read September 23, 2026 (revised August 2023). It says who must register and how to register through eTaxBC.

• Bulletin PST 302, Delivery Charges (Government of BC)

  Read September 23, 2026 (revised April 2026). Delivery charges generally form part of the taxable price, and goods shipped outside BC are not charged PST when the seller keeps the shipping records.

• BC provincial sales tax (Government of BC)

  Read September 23, 2026 (updated September 21, 2026). The general PST rate of 7%.

• When to register for and start charging the GST/HST (Canada Revenue Agency)

  Read September 23, 2026 (modified June 16, 2026). The $30,000 small supplier limit in one calendar quarter or over four in a row, and the 29 days to register.

• Charge and collect the tax: which rate to charge (Canada Revenue Agency)

  Read September 23, 2026 (modified April 8, 2026). The place of supply rule, with the CRA’s example of a BC store charging 13% HST on goods delivered to Ontario.

• GST/HST rates by province (Canada Revenue Agency)

  Read September 23, 2026. 5% GST in British Columbia and Alberta, 13% HST in Ontario.

• Setting up Canadian taxes (Shopify Help Center)

  Read September 23, 2026. The Settings path, the tax number box, and the note that Basic Tax is only for stores collecting Canadian tax before May 13, 2026.

• Shopify Tax features in Canada (Shopify Help Center)

  Read September 23, 2026. Free until $100,000 CAD in global sales per store, then 0.25% per Canadian order (0.15% on Plus), capped at $0.99 CAD, with fees applying from August 15, 2026.

Frequently asked questions

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