The new Canadian tax process for online transactions, does not require you to have a tax number if your sales are less than $30,000/yr; nor does it prohibit you from selling on eBay, Etsy or any other platform.
These major selling sites are required to collect sales taxes on the sales transactions, the % is according to the buyer's provincial sales tax. This taxation process isn't about the sellers, this is taxation on transactions of online sales, and it is the buyers that are paying the tax. It does not matter where the seller is located- the taxation is based on the buyer's location.
It is the BUYER that pays the sales tax according to the %age sales tax of their province. Sellers under the $30,000 threshold need do NOTHING! It is the selling site that is collecting those taxes on behalf of sellers and remitting them as required. BUYERS pay the sales tax on the sales transaction.Sellers will pay their fees on the TOTAL transaction.
NOT eBay, nor Etsy nor any other selling site is "forcing" anyone who is under the threshold " to apply for a tax number "... It is an option for sellers who are under the threshold. Sellers may want to "consider" this option if they anticipate sales nearing the threshold.
This Canadian taxation process is really no different than the "internet taxation" as applied in the USA by 45 state gov'ts, whereby buyers pay that USA "internet sales tax" based on their state's sales tax % and sellers pay their fees on the TOTAL transaction, which includes paying fees on the applied taxes. The Canadian taxation process is also applied to the TOTAL transaction, whereby the taxes are paid by the buyer, but the seller will pay the fees on the TOTAL transaction which includes paying the applicable fees on the new taxation process...
