Ebay business registation

[living*daylights]

Good day people.

For ebay canada,

1. do I have to register a Sole proprietorship? what does it depend on?

2. do I have to open Business bank account or personal, to link to my MP?

Share your experience pls.

[femmefan1946]

1.) No.

2.) You need a chequing account in a Canadian bank.

Your bank account must match your eBay information exactly. If your name is John Jacob Jingleheimer Smith, and you used JJJSmith as your name with eBay, Managed Payments will not allow you to use a bank account in your name as John JJ Smith.

You don't have to open a business account. You can use an existing business account if you are expanding your current business online.

Business account have higher fees than personal accounts.

Many sellers have opened separate accounts for their online business.  Often those are online no-fee accounts with banks like Tangerine (TD Canada Trust) or Simplii (CIBC).

[living*daylights]

1. In other words, do I understand correctly if my name is John Smith I have to Have ebay userid John_smith? I dont get it.

2. I dont understand you answer! I asked if I could use a personal bank account for the ebay business. I dont have existing business account. I am asking if I can use  a personal checking account (USD in particular).

thanks

[ilikehockeyjerseys]

Registering for a business is extremely easy. 

https://www.canada.ca/en/services/business/start/register-with-gov/register-sole-prop-partner.html

You register for a business number there. 

Once you have the business number, you can register for HST here:

https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/businesses/topics/gst-hst-businesses/account-re...

Although it is always advisable to speak to an accountant, taxes are fairly straight forward. Since you are a sole proprietor, your business income is self-employment income. 

Incorporating is more complicated, and depending on the scale and risk of your business, you may want to speak to a professional to see if it makes sense to incorporate. 

You do not need a business bank account, but a lot of people will advise you to use one in order to keep business and personal expenses separate. That way, if you are ever audited, you might have an easier time justifying your expenses. 

I assume you're looking to register in anticipation of eBay collecting sales tax. This is a good idea, since you can claim the input tax credits on any GST/HST you spend that is related to your business. Since eBay will raise your prices regardless by collecting the tax, you might as well benefit from the input tax credits. 

[ilikehockeyjerseys]

Your BIN is tied to your legal name. 

Once your BIN and your GST number are registered, you can create different business names that are tied to your BIN. 

So if your name is John Smith, and your eBay store is John's T-Shirts, you would first register for a BIN that is tied to John Smith. Then register for a GST number tied to that BIN. Then with the GST number you can create any number of different business names tied to the same number and same John Smith BIN. So even know your BIN is technically named John Smith, someone can look up John's T-Shirts and your GST number, and it will show as an active business.