Canadian VAT Issues for U.S. Sellers: Goods & Services Tax and Harmonized Sales Tax Requirements
What are the Canadian sales tax traps for U.S. businesses?
Note: CLE credit is not offered on this program
Recording of a 110-minute CPE webinar with Q&A
This webinar will highlight many areas where U.S. businesses make costly Canadian sales tax mistakes when selling goods and/or services into Canada. The panel will provide useful information to help corporate tax advisers avoid the most common costly mistakes.
Outline
- Structure of Canada's federal and province-specific sales tax/VAT system
- Goods and services tax (GST)
- Harmonized sales tax (HST)
- Quebec sales tax (QST)
- Other provincial sales taxes (PST)
- Nexus rules in Canada
- Special rules for non-Canadian e-commerce sellers
- Registration requirements
- Calculating GST/HST/PST
- General calculations
- Charging GST/HST on discount sales
- Remittance process and input tax credits
- Small business exceptions
- CRA’s requests for accounting records and audits
Benefits
The panel will discuss these and other relevant topics:
- How Canada determines nexus for purposes of determining whether a non-Canadian company has sales tax collection and remittance obligations
- Special rules for U.S. (and other non-Canadian) e-commerce sellers for determining sales tax liability
- How various provinces' PST interacts with federal GST regime
- When does a U.S. company need to register in Canada as a seller of goods or services?
Faculty

Cyndee Todgham Cherniak
Founder
LexSage
Ms. Cherniak’s practice is focused on international law and commodity tax (i.e., goods and services tax (GST),... | Read More
Ms. Cherniak’s practice is focused on international law and commodity tax (i.e., goods and services tax (GST), harmonized sales tax ("HST"), Ontario retail sales tax, Ontario employer health tax, Ontario land transfer tax, excise tax, gasoline and fuel taxes, and customs duties. She is known as an international lawyer who works closely with other lawyers, in-house counsel, international financial institutions, trade associations, non-governmental organizations and governments. Ms. Cherniak is a sessional law professor at the University of Windsor School of Law and teaches a 3 credit course on Canada-US Trade Issues.
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Brian Litvin
Principal
Litvin Muir
Mr. Litvin specializes in Canadian sales taxes (GST/HST/QST/PST), and international value added taxes (VAT). Mr.... | Read More
Mr. Litvin specializes in Canadian sales taxes (GST/HST/QST/PST), and international value added taxes (VAT). Mr. Litvin’s expertise includes minimizing GST/HST and VAT costs, increasing sales tax efficiencies, and streamlining processes ensuring efficient GST/HST and global VAT management. Present and past clients include companies on the Forbes 100 list, multinationals and U.S. companies in multiple different industries, many of which are household names. His firm also provides Canadian and European compliance services for nonresident entities.
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