Freelancer in Canada - Tax Number Required?

[64c2ecab]

Just signed up for Upwork and I'm trying to understand if I need to register for and provide a GST tax number or not as a freelancer residing in Canada as a citizen.

Does this mean that Upwork collects GST/PST on payments made by clients to you for work or is it only if you pay for services through Upwork?

Just trying to gain a better understanding of this so I'm not making the wrong decision that will have a negative impact on me down the road.

[JoanneP]

Hi Sam,

GST is the Goods and Services Tax, a type of value-added tax levied by the Canadian government on various goods and services, including Upwork’s digital services. Upwork is required to collect GST from Canadian consumers and Canadian businesses who are not registered under the normal GST/HST regime. If you have a GST/HST and/or QST Number, you are not considered a consumer by the Canadian government. Add your valid GST/HST or QST Number here and we will not collect this tax from you.

To learn more about this, please check out this help article. 

[64c2ecab]

Thank you for that answer, JoanneP. I kind of understood that from the documentation on the website. What I'm a little bit confused about is what the difference is if Upwork collects the GST/HST from us or doesn't. Does it just have to do with the amount you can deduct as expenses come tax time?

[LuiggiR · Accepted solution]

Hi Sam,

You will need to confirm with a local tax advisor what you can or can't deduct; I'm afraid this isn't something we can advise you on. We can confirm that we are required to collect taxes for:

• Freelancer service fees (not your earnings)
• Connects purchases
• Membership fees, such as for our Freelancer Plus plan
• The payment processing fees you pay for Direct Contracts

Unless you provide your GST/HST or QST number, in which case, we are not required to collect this tax from you.