HST for YouTubers

As a You Tuber/ Influencer, am I required to pay HST? I do not change anyone HST. I only create videos and receive money from the ads that are shown during the watch time.

You should charge HST if your ad revenues exceed $30k in a year.

Who should I charge HST too? I don’t submit an invoice to google. They pay me once a month for adding ads to my video.

It’s not quite that simple…

As @irfan mentioned you need to register for HST if your annual taxable sales (including zero rated) exceed $30,000. I’m not as certain, however, whether you need to collect HST (or be paid HST) on your revenues. Your customer, Google (parent of YouTube), is a non-resident corporation so it could be likely most of the revenues you collect are zero rated by virtue of Excise Tax Act Schedule VI, Part V, S8 - Advertising … at least this is how is was prior to July 2021 when Google was required to register for GST/HST under the Canadian Simplified Registration System by virtue of Excise Tax Act section 211.11.


Sch. VI, Part V, s 8

  1. A supply of a service of advertising made to a non-resident person who is not registered for purposes of the GST/HST at the time the service is performed is zero-rated.

Unfortunately, as of July 2021 Google is no longer a non-registrant for GST/HST so I don’t know how or whether the zero-rated supply has been impacted and whether the above still applies.

You likely liase through AdSense for your income payments.
It might be best to reach out to AdSense and ask them directly as they likely deal with this on a regular basis. I know there is an area in your AdSense account to include your GST/HST number but I believe including that is more so that Google does not charge you GST/HST if you were the customer.

Here are some links, but none will really be of much help with your particular question.

The first link should have been helpful. It lets you know that you need to register for GST/HST when your taxable supplies (including zero rated) exceed 30,000 in a calendar year but it does not let you know whether things such as YouTube revenue are zero rated or taxable at your province’s rate.

https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/programs/about-canada-revenue-agency-cra/compliance/platform-economy/social-media-influencers.html

Here is a link to the the GST Memorandum Series pertaining to Exports and Intellectual Property. You might find “Advertising Services” to be of some use.

Good luck with your search.

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I have a client who is a YouTuber making pretty good money. No GST (or HST) as they are “exported services” to Google US (a non-resident).

They should supply a W-8BEN for you to fill out as a Canadian supplier with no permanent establishment in the US and that should exempt you from withholding taxes. Note that there are THREE sections to fill in on their site…not just for the one that generally pays the money (unless they’ve fixed it due to my bitching at them).

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“No GST (or HST) as they are ‘exported services’ to Google US (a non-resident).”

Earning from youtube ads can not have HSTs because you pretty much provide services to people from other countries and earn from adds in those countries.