Is Shopify allowed to charge Canadian taxes in USD?

k8tel
Visitor
1 0 2

Forgive me, but I did a seach and cannot seem to find an answer.

 

My bill shows by monthly fee in USD> $29.00

but then it is charging me GST 5% and HST 8% on top of that BUT IN USD!!

Is that allowed?

 

Total bill comes in USD, which is fine I suppose, but I am not sure it's right that they are charging me CANADIAN TAXES in USD

Replies 29 (29)

Aria
Shopify Staff (Retired)
853 34 332

Hey!

 

Aria here, one of the Social Care gurus at Shopify.

 

I understand where you're coming from. I'm in Canada as well. It would be nice to pay the whole bill in CAD but the reason we bill in USD is that it's the most common currency used by merchants and customers on Shopify. Since GST and HST is a percentage of your bill, it needs to be in USD because the rest of the bill is. If we converted it into CAD, it would confuse people because the percentage would seem wrong. The total tax is 13% which is $3.77 on a $29 bill. Using today's exchange rate, that would be $4.95 CAD which would lead people to believe we were billing them 17% instead of 13%. It would also fluctuate as the exchange rate changes so it would seem odd the tax is different on every bill. Does that make sense?

 

How are you getting on with your store otherwise?

 

Aria
Social Care Guru
Shopify

To learn more visit the Shopify Help Center or the Community Blog.

accountingAW
Visitor
2 0 1

Hi Aria,

 

Thanks for explanation, that helped me as well.... I have other question about it.

In my bill, I can see (GST,PST and Canada HST Canada Post ON (8%)). I don't know where do you base on to get this amount... If I calculate based on shipping fees that show in my bill, the amount is different.

 

How can I get more explanation about my bill? I would like to see in details all reasons for each charge.

 

Hope heard from you soon. 

 

Thanks. Have a great day!

Aria
Shopify Staff (Retired)
853 34 332

Hey, @accountingAW 

 

Aria here!

 

I'd love to help you with that but it's difficult for me to understand the context without being able to see your bill. 

 

For personal issues that relate specifically to your business, please reach out to our support directly, so that we can authenticate you and access your account to give you accurate answers. You can contact us here. You can also contact us on Facebook Messenger.

 

For further context, this post covers all of the support we can provide and what each type of support is best for. 

 

We look forward to helping you out!

To learn more visit the Shopify Help Center or the Community Blog.

HuggingHazel
Visitor
2 0 11
As a Canadian business AND consumer, I was also confused about this! Although this explanation is helpful, it still does not justify WHY Shopify, a Canadian company, would charge their Canadian customers in U. S. dollars. You would think that a company with such a large customer base would want to SUPPORT their Canadian economy AND consumers, considering that they have no issues allowing Canadian businesses to sell in Canadian currency. With the condition of the Canadian economy and with small, family owned businesses being bought out by American companies or having to close down due to their inability to compete with their big box American competitors, it is disgusting that Shopify uses the excuse that it is just easier or a more simplified process by only charging in U. S. dollars. A company like yours, who grew exponentially in a short time, should be a PROUD Canadian company, however, you are not supporting your Canadian consumers. I think that you should consider billing your Canadian customers accordingly and fairly, even if that means spending some money to change your billing process. I am considering dropping my Shopify store and signing up with another reputable Canadian company that can meet my business needs in the same exemplary way as you do, but charge an amount compatible to our Canadian economy.
Aria
Shopify Staff (Retired)
853 34 332

Hey @HuggingHazel !

 

I can understand your concern.

 

We have had a lot of merchants make the same request and there is a feature request with our developers. I added you to the list. It's something we'd like to do as part of our Internationalization (allow everyone to pay their bills in their own local currency) but it's a huge undertaking and it's not likely to change quickly. 

 

We are certainly proud to be Canadian. The original decision to bill in USD was made because the majority of our merchants are in the US and USD is the most widely used currency on our platform overall. A lot of Canadian stores are choosing to bill their customers in USD and often even use a US shipping service because they know it will increase their International orders. That being said, I do agree it would be great for everyone to have the choice.

To learn more visit the Shopify Help Center or the Community Blog.

Mandvi
Visitor
1 0 8

I mean the whole explanation is a bit ridiculous, you give the ability to make the store charge in any currency but Shopify itself cannot charge in local currency of the store, which is why the taxes that are being charged are a bit higher because the USD To CAD conversion make it higher. I am surprised by the answer that your base is US but being a Canadian company, we prefer to work in USD and charge everybody based on Canadian tax laws and rates but in USD currency... I mean, help us here, where is the logic ??? 

williamleathem
Visitor
1 0 1

You can add me to the list with the same request.


@Aria wrote:

Hey @HuggingHazel !

 

I can understand your concern.

 

We have had a lot of merchants make the same request and there is a feature request with our developers. I added you to the list. It's something we'd like to do as part of our Internationalization (allow everyone to pay their bills in their own local currency) but it's a huge undertaking and it's not likely to change quickly. 

 

We are certainly proud to be Canadian. The original decision to bill in USD was made because the majority of our merchants are in the US and USD is the most widely used currency on our platform overall. A lot of Canadian stores are choosing to bill their customers in USD and often even use a US shipping service because they know it will increase their International orders. That being said, I do agree it would be great for everyone to have the choice.


 

HuggingHazel
Visitor
2 0 11
Thank you! WOW! That took almost a year to reply.
saff1
Visitor
1 0 6

add me to the list as well, 

 

another bone of contention is that i buy my shipping from canada post a canadian company pay in canadian dollars but then shopify jumps in a does a quick currency exchange money grab, not very ethical.  feels a little like shopify is putting the boots to their canadian clientele.  

yes i could have the option of also charging us dollars but i am not America can, dont want to be america, i am canadian operating in canada.

Aria
Shopify Staff (Retired)
853 34 332

Hey, @williamleathem and @saff1!

 

I'd be happy to add you to the list but I can only do that if I have your store URL's. Feel free to reach out to our support if you don't feel comfortable providing this information on the forums. 

 

Thank you!

To learn more visit the Shopify Help Center or the Community Blog.

NorthernDlights
Tourist
8 0 6

I would also like to be added to the list, my url is www.northerndlights.ca
 I too do not think it is right that with this being a Canadian company, that Shopify seems to cater to US based customers and businesses, while us Canadian customers should be priority, in my opinion. I want to be proud of the fact that Shopify is a Canadian based company who is doing phenomenal, but it is hard to do that when Shopify favors our neighbors to the south.
 Also, to me it looks as though it is a form of trickery to tell everyone the fee is $29 a month to make it look cheaper to those of us in Canada who do not realize when signing up, that the billing is actually in USD, so it is more like $35 a month, depending on the exchange rate that day. (I just paid my bill of $169 usd, which came to $229 cdn) Which brings me to another point, when doing the accounting, we have to figure out what the exchange rate was for each day that we had fees, so that our accounts balance out. Not exactly an easy task. This is the only reason I switched my Etsy shop from US currency to CDN, and guess what? I still get the majority of my sales from the US on that platform. 
 Oh, and another thing I just noticed, that if this was only being done this way because of the fact that US is a much more widely used currency, why is it that only US based shops can use the money from the sales to pay their Shopify balance, and not those of us in Canada? It would be nice to be nice to be able to pay for the shipping fees right away from an order, instead of having to hold on to those funds for a month and wait for a huge bill to come in and pay it all in one shot.

~ Elite Saponifier ~
www.northerndlights.ca
Aria
Shopify Staff (Retired)
853 34 332

@NorthernDlights, thank you for confirming your store URL. I have added you to the feature request.

To learn more visit the Shopify Help Center or the Community Blog.

ilakn
Tourist
3 0 5

Please add me to the list. It's extremely offensive to your Canadian customers who also have CANADIAN customers themselves that they have to pay a CANADIAN company fees in USD. You guys are leaders, please lead by example. It's extremely annoying when companies charge Canadian customers in USD, but I can understand if its a US company. You guys are Canadian. A US company would never think of doing this to customers in their own country. Our site is my-dessert-place.com (soon to be thedessertroom.ca).

Aria
Shopify Staff (Retired)
853 34 332

Hey, @ilakn!

I tried to add you to the feature request but I have been unable to find a Shopify store with either of the URL's you have provided. If you could check those for me, I can add you once I have the correct one. 

Thank you!

To learn more visit the Shopify Help Center or the Community Blog.

Aless369
Visitor
2 0 1

Hi there,

Please add our names to the list! (From onlyoncecollection.com) Very unfortunate to be paying Canadian tax rates in USD.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aria
Shopify Staff (Retired)
853 34 332

@Aless369, thank you for confirming your store URL. I have added you to the feature request. 

To learn more visit the Shopify Help Center or the Community Blog.

Alistair6
Tourist
3 0 2

Please also add us to the feature request to convert billing to currency of store where it is based (CAD). It is especially disappointing to see a Canadian owned and based company charging only in USD. The URL of our store is www.fridgefulldelivery.com

Aria
Shopify Staff (Retired)
853 34 332

Hey, @Alistair6!

Thank you for providing your store URL. I have added you to the feature request. You can sign up for updates on Shopify features in our Changelog

To learn more visit the Shopify Help Center or the Community Blog.

BeansMcGee
Visitor
1 0 2

I know that the conversion can be done with enough will.

Another item that nobody has mentioned is the fact that although Shopify claims it's largest market is the US, they still list metric as the default weight measurement in it's shipping rates section. This seems curious as their "largest market" and their excuse to operate in US dollars, uses Imperial. Seems a little skeezy that they are obviously speaking to Canadians in Canadian terms, yet the billing in US Dollars is never mentioned in this section.
 

accountingAW
Visitor
2 0 1

Please, add me at the list as well. here is my URL's store.

https://ca.ainsliewear.com/

Thanks

Aria
Shopify Staff (Retired)
853 34 332

Thank you for providing your store URL, @accountingAW. I added you to the list. 

To learn more visit the Shopify Help Center or the Community Blog.

ilakn
Tourist
3 0 5

Please add me/my client to the list. My client's store is my-dessert-place.myshopify.com or thedessertroom.ca

Aria
Shopify Staff (Retired)
853 34 332

Thank you, @ilakn!

I added your client to the list as requested. 

To learn more visit the Shopify Help Center or the Community Blog.

precision1
Tourist
6 0 6

Our thoughts every month:

  • You are a Canadian Company in Ottawa of all places, behave as such!
  • Make the US people FOLLOW our rules not the other way around.
  • Make our bills in CAD its a pain in the ass figuring it all out.
  • A nice feature would be to hold back the shipping fees so when you ship they are there already. I'm guessing that would be a super easy fix. 

Sincerely,

All the Shopify Businesses in Canada

 

julialuna
Visitor
2 0 2

Could you please add my shop to the list as well,

juliemoonceramics.com

NorthernDlights
Tourist
8 0 6

@HuggingHazel wrote:
As a Canadian business AND consumer, I was also confused about this! Although this explanation is helpful, it still does not justify WHY Shopify, a Canadian company, would charge their Canadian customers in U. S. dollars. You would think that a company with such a large customer base would want to SUPPORT their Canadian economy AND consumers, considering that they have no issues allowing Canadian businesses to sell in Canadian currency. With the condition of the Canadian economy and with small, family owned businesses being bought out by American companies or having to close down due to their inability to compete with their big box American competitors, it is disgusting that Shopify uses the excuse that it is just easier or a more simplified process by only charging in U. S. dollars. A company like yours, who grew exponentially in a short time, should be a PROUD Canadian company, however, you are not supporting your Canadian consumers. I think that you should consider billing your Canadian customers accordingly and fairly, even if that means spending some money to change your billing process. I am considering dropping my Shopify store and signing up with another reputable Canadian company that can meet my business needs in the same exemplary way as you do, but charge an amount compatible to our Canadian economy.

If you do find a platform that is comparable to Shopify, that caters to fellow Canadians, can you please let me know somehow? Thank you. 

~ Elite Saponifier ~
www.northerndlights.ca

Jessica_Hsu
Visitor
2 0 2

I've inquired about this a few years back and it's sad to see its 202and the same question is still not addressed... and whadya know, it's tax season again and I'm going through my invoices one by one, converting usd to cad again, wondering why it doesn't add up again... I know they say there is a "list" like there's some bill that has to pass before it gets addressed and it's just something Shopify help say so we stop pestering but come on. this is absolutely ridiculous. Or is it just me? am i missing something here?

MichelleOL
Visitor
1 0 0

Yeah, add me to that list. It's infuriating that a Canadian company charges us USD, even for CANADA POST fees. My customers pay me in CAD, I want their payments to go towards the CANADIAN shipping charges... but Shopify lumps them all together into one big USD charge at the end of the month. It's BS.

birchr
Shopify Partner
4 0 1

I will add to the pile-on as well for two shops - luxcrafter.ca (soon to be developed) and zipperloft.ca now running.  I would like to see Shopify make their price $29 regardless of CA or US shop owner location.