eTailPet is excited to announce that our industry leading point-of-sale system will now calculate Canadian tax! This is a huge update for our Canadian customers, and we’re confident that it will make running your pet store much easier.
We know that calculating taxes can be a real hassle, especially in Canada with its multiple sales taxes. With over thirteen different provinces and territories and several different combinations of tax rates, it can be confusing. That’s why we set out to build a solution that would automate the process for you.
Mysteries of Canadian Taxes
It is really no mystery. It is just a matter of creating a system to simplify complex provincial taxes. According to the Canada Revenue Agency1, whether you’re cheating on your taxes, or just failing to pay them correctly, the consequences are serious.
When convicted of tax evasion
- You must still pay the full amount of taxes owing, plus interest and any civil penalties assessed by the CRA.
- You may be fined up to 200% of the taxes evaded.
- You may be imposed a jail term of up to five years.
From April 1, 2017 – March 31, 2022
140 Convicted taxpayers
More than $17M in court-imposed fines
119 Total years in jail
More than $72M in federal tax evaded
Fiscal year 2021-22
88% Court conviction rate
$3.3M Court-imposed fines
31 Ongoing joint operations with law enforcement
Being convicted of tax fraud carries a sentence of up to 14 years in prison.
Understanding Canadian Tax Types
There are a lot of different taxes that can apply to a purchase, depending on where the customer is located, where the product is being shipped from, and where your store is located. When it is broke down it is easier to fully understand all the different rules and regulations.
Canadian pet store owners know that it is important to have a good understanding of what and when to charge sales tax to your customers. There are three main types: good and services tax, provincial sales tax, and the harmonized sales tax. There is also a specific Quebec sales tax. The features built into eTailPet around these specific taxes will help you move forward with confidence to determine what tax to charge each customer.
Good and Services Tax
The federal tax of Canada or GST, is applied to almost all goods and services. Managed by the Canada Revenue Agency, it is added to products purchased in Canada unless they are zero-rated or exempt.
Provincial Sales Tax
Provincial sales tax (PST) is retail sales tax that is charged when a good or service is purchased. It is levied by the provincial governments. The PST applies to both taxable and zero-rated items and is paid to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).
Small businesses in British Columbia, Manitoba, Quebec, and Saskatchewan are required to charge customers the PST, as well as 5 percent GST.
Harmonized Sales Tax
There are a few provinces that have chosen to participate in the harmonized sales tax (HST). The HST combines the GST with the PST to create one harmonized tax rate. These regions include New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Labrador, and Ontario. So, if your small business resides in one of these areas, you are required to collect the HST rate which ranges from 13-15 percent and pay it to the CRA.
Quebec Sales Tax
The province of Quebec is a unique situation all on its own. Revenu Quebec requires small-businesses to file and collect taxes. If a retail pet store’s address is in the province of Quebec, an employee is hired , or production and marketing activities occur in the region a business owner may need to register and pay taxes.
GST and QST would be added at the time of sale for most goods and services within the province.
eTailPet Canadian Tax Compliance
We built a new tax profile functionality into eTailPet. This allows you to configure tax setups for e-commerce purchases by zip or mailing code. So what this means is that if someone purchases something from Ontario and your store is in Quebec, you can charge the Quebec taxes instead of your store tax; which is required by law.
And it can all be done dynamically to update tax rates and zip code groups as you need to comply with Canada’s reporting and receipts requirements.
Beyond that, we’ve taken into consideration regulations around the Official Languages Act. We did all the work of empowering you to take advantage of content available in French and English and made it easy to add your own translations.
We’ve done the work for you. So you can focus on running your pet store.
We’re always looking for ways to improve eTailPet, and we’re confident that this new tax feature will be a huge help to our Canadian customers. If you have any questions or would like to request a demo, please don’t hesitate to contact us.