InvoicingTax

Canadian tax

Canada charges federal GST/HST alongside separately administered provincial sales taxes, so the combined rate on a sale depends on the customer’s province. This is why Solvimon requires a province on every Canadian customer.

Why this matters

Some provinces harmonized their sales tax with the federal GST into a single HST rate; others still charge GST plus their own separate provincial sales tax (PST, RST, or QST). Getting the combined rate right depends on knowing which province the customer is in, not just that they’re in Canada.

How it works

  • A customer whose address country is CA requires a state. See Canadian states for the accepted province names and two-letter codes.
  • With no tax calculation integration connected, Solvimon calculates tax natively using the province’s current rate against the tax category set on the product, product item, or product category.
  • If a tax calculation integration is connected for the billing entity, the customer’s province and tax category are sent to the provider instead, which returns the applicable GST/HST/PST/QST amounts.

Recording a customer’s tax registration numbers

Because GST/HST and provincial taxes are administered separately, a Canadian customer can carry more than one tax ID at once. Set type on each entry in tax_ids to record which registration it is:

TypeUse for
CA_GST_HSTFederal GST or HST registration number.
CA_PSTA general provincial sales tax registration number.
CA_PST_BCBritish Columbia PST registration number.
CA_PST_MBManitoba RST registration number.
CA_PST_SKSaskatchewan PST registration number.
CA_QSTQuebec QST registration number.
Add a customer's GST/HST and QST numbers
$curl -X PATCH https://test.api.solvimon.com/v1/customers/cust_UwDvxh0tDo8xb4BWeC1c \
>  -H "X-API-KEY: <apiKey>" \
>  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
>  -d '{
>    "organization": {
>      "tax_ids": [
>        { "id": "123456789RT0001", "type": "CA_GST_HST" },
>        { "id": "1234567890TQ0001", "type": "CA_QST" }
>      ]
>    }
>  }'

Get the full list of accepted tax ID types for Canada with GET /v1/tax-id-types:

Get allowed tax id types for Canada
$curl -G https://test.api.solvimon.com/v1/tax-id-types \
>  -H "X-API-KEY: <apiKey>" \
>  --data-urlencode "country=CA"

Edge cases

  • Creating a Canadian customer without a state is rejected; use either the full province name or its two-letter code from Canadian states.
  • Sales to customers outside Canada aren’t subject to GST/HST/PST. If your catalog serves both Canadian and international customers, set the tax category (NO_TAX or EXEMPT) accordingly so international sales aren’t taxed as if they were domestic.