Canadian Taxes Aren't being charged on orders.

[#1]

I just finished a phone call with Etsy support and I was told that because I have tax numbers for all provinces in Canada that I am responsible for remitting the taxes. Which is true.

Unfortunately the support person didn't seem very aware of the changes or how they worked.

The part that doesn't seem right is if you have tax numbers they do not add tax to the order. The support person said we are responsible for collecting the tax from the customer.

I said you want us to go back to the customer to collect the tax after the sale has been completed and she said yes. 

There is NO other platform or store I know of that would go back to a customer after the fact to collect tax.

This would also make it a huge amount of work to balance tax accounts at the end of each month.

Is this true? IS this the way it is actually suppose to work?

Why are taxes not calculated as it was pre July 1st and if you have tax numbers  send the tax to the seller to remit and if no tax numbers then Etsy would remit.

[TreeTreasuresCanada]

@TwinklingLullaby  No, the CRA has advised that we cannot remove our GST/HST registration numbers.

Some sellers have reportedly been able to request removal by Etsy.  However, I recommend that if you attempt this route you get approval in writing from the CRA.

[CraftyCornishMaids]

@TwinklingLullaby 

if you have a gst number, you have to put it in etsy,

you can't remove it,

if you tell etsy you are now under the threshold, and have de-registered, they will let your government know, and remove the number ... take legal advice before doing this

[EPICut]

So we need to upcharge all our Canadian buyers 20% to accommodate for this, regardless of where they're located. And Etsy gets to collect their 6.5% on that tax collection.

This shop is my family's sole income. We've already passed 30k for the year, so we're already boned. This is also going to give the CRA such a splitting headache come tax time, and it's going to fall on us hard. 

This is unacceptable. 

[CraftyCornishMaids]

@EPICut 

It's not going to give the CRA a headache,

it gives sellers a headache,

As the sellers will have to "reverse calculate" the GST/HST, for each sale, so they record it correctly in their returns

....

you can price domestic differently from non-domestic, so if you sell to USA, you can keep those prices the same, and just up the Canadian prices

[EPICut]

I'm worried that the bigger issue with including GST/HST in prices is that we as Canadians aren't used to seeing taxes included in prices. People are going to see the higher price, and assume they need to pay 5-15% on top of that, and decide that's way too high, losing us sales.

[BelindaCarmichaelSJ]

Exactly my worry - I have a ticket it out on it specifically today about how this seriously puts shops with Tax Id's at a disadvantage. 

They started the first reply saying they were sorry about my frustration with my countries new tax laws, so I don't hold out much hope they'll address, but I think we just have to keep bombarding them letting them know how unfairly they are implementing this new change.

[BelindaCarmichaelSJ]

@EPICut 

AS expected, ETSY's response to the price disparity was of no help and I was told to contact a tax specialist. But my feedback will be passed on.

Let's just keep raising tickets - it doesn't take too long. We've given ETSY a lot of profit over the years, they owe us to change how they are doing this. They did slightly change star seller program, so could be possible. 

[BebeFleurit]

it is illegal in quebec to not put the taxe on an other line so etsy is going to have to change that. revenu quebec is already aware of that .  a thousand of phone call to them. so etsy is going to have to go fast and put a line to charge taxes . me i am afraid that they charge taxes when it is me that has to do so... i put my number in but receive an emai saying i did not ..... they better not charge in double

[CraftyCornishMaids]

@BebeFleurit 

At this moment in time

The main things are

1. put in your tax number, into Etsy, in the format required,

2. make sure you have formulas to "reverse calculate" the taxes for your returns

3. have a template worked out, on how you will provide invoices to your customers, if they request one.

I wouldn't worry about whether etsy gets it's lines on it's receipts correct or not, that's between them, and the Quebec authorities,
You may want to highlight this to etsy, but the other three affect you, and it's your neck on the line,
the receipts, it's etsy's neck on the line

Prioritise

[8thLineCreations]

We have open tickets as well.. kinda like talking to a recording... 

[IslandEngravers]

Etsy has royaly botched this whole rollout.. If you are in BC QC SK etsy is charging Tax on Tax.. 

[JUstenboisShop]

I agree that Etsy has botched everything. I am trying to figure out what to charge to be able to pay taxes in both Quebec and Alberta (the 2 extreme tax scenarios), since I have all of my registrations. There is 9.975% difference. I have told Etsy that for the record, they are not for small business' that were doing things right. They are all about Etsy.  Not only are they putting us in a position to be non-compliant, they are handing over a ton of work in order to be compliant. I guess Etsy is not the platform for Canadian Artisans to sell products in Canada. 

[lizfinestcollection]

I am in the same position and I really do not know how to go around that. Especially that the sales taxes system are different in each province. I am getting quite unpleased with Etsy since a year. 

[JUstenboisShop]

I honestly think that we have to raise the issue with the CRA. It seems to me that Etsy was held responsible for collecting taxes for those Canadians that did not have any registration numbers. Which is perfectly legal if you make under $30,000. But because Etsy makes much more that $30,000, the CRA probably deemed that they were responsible for remitting. Instead of just fixing that issue, they decided that they would remove the tax table that we used to charge taxes and leave us in the cold. 

As a result of this and other issues I have had with Etsy, I am seriously thinking of moving away from Etsy and finding another platform that can bring my products to US buyers, while still servicing Canadians properly. 

In the meantime, I have had to increase my prices on Etsy and automate the portion of the sale that is GST and other Provincial Taxes on an Excel spreadsheet, since I can no longer use anything on Etsy to let me know how much tax I have collected. What can I say, Etsy loves to give us work not sales.

[CraftyCornishMaids]

The CRA specifically made the platforms responsible for collecting GST/HST for non-registered GST/HST sellers

And then the CRA gave the platforms the choice, whether to act as the agent for sellers who were registered, or not.

Etsy chose NOT,
as they have specified they will not be responsible for taxes where they don't have to - which also means they remove the tool, and put in the "Taxes included where applicable" message, for the sellers to sort it out themselves.

Etsy does this, with all countries / areas where this happens,

I have always said, if were to have to register for VAT, I'd be out of here in a flash, Amazon is far better in this situation

[FabricDesigTreasures]

Oh boy, Etsy is definitely causing major issues for their Canadian vendors.  We are charged such high transaction fees by Etsy only to be provided with bad service all around.

[CraftyCornishMaids]

@FabricDesigTreasures 

others are charged more, and have even less services,

The VAT for EU sellers, dealing with different VAT rates in 27 countries, there are also 3 categories of VAT that could be on an item, and they could be one category in one country , and a different one in another, for the same item,
it is horrendous without the tax tool, but they took it away many years ago, and have not put it back - vat on the same item could range from 0 to 27%, depending where it is sold

[JUstenboisShop]

Ultimately, Etsy has proven they only care about Etsy and not the Artisans and small business' that they are supposedly helping. Obviously, Etsy was forced to charge the taxes by the CRA for those businesses that are so small (Under $30,000) in revenue that didn't need tax numbers. So they put the rest of us out to fend for ourselves. The only way I think we can make Etsy change is to complain to the CRA. I raised my prices to cover only GST, so I lose money on a sale made in every province but Alberta!!! It was a compromise that I chose to make to have those sales made in the US subsidize those sales made in the other provinces in Canada. 

I complained to Etsy and they just don't seem to care. 

[SofsLifestyle]

oh wow, that's crazy! I was wondering what was happening. Thanks for clearing that up. Makes absolutely no sense! 

[BarkandMain]

I am also having the same problem.  No one at Etsy can answer my question.  

• My question pertains to how taxes are applied on the Etsy platform:

  • United States Customers: GST should not be charged. Customers in the U.S. should only be charged their applicable state taxes.
  • Canadian Customers: Each province in Canada has a different tax rate.

• Given the diversity in tax rates and buyers' locations, will I need to manually adjust the pricing for all my 200+ listings to account for these tax differences? This would not only be time-consuming but could also negatively impact the competitiveness of my pricing for customers who are not subject to GST (e.g., customers in the U.S., Australia, etc.).

• Currently, Etsy appears to be charging GST and deducting it directly from my payment balance. While I understand this process for buyers subject to GST, it would make more sense for the GST to be appropriately charged, included in my payout, and then remitted by me as required.

• I have another platform and it is so simple. Can someone answer this question for us.

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