The Platform Reporting Rules: Will Etsy or eBay Report You to CRA?
The pages to read are CRA's "who is affected" note and the longer guidance on the reporting rules. What you owe if you are in business is side-hustle taxes. Occasional personal sales are the Marketplace article. Driving and delivery are not "sales of goods" and have their own page: rideshare and delivery taxes.
- The goods exclusion is two tests: fewer than 30 relevant activities for the sale of goods, and total consideration paid or credited not over $2,800 in the reportable period. CRA's guidance states them together.
- Services, rides, deliveries, and property rentals are not saved by the goods test. Personal services and rentals are relevant activities of their own.
- If you are excluded, the platform still keeps the records that show why. Exclusion is not anonymity.
- You report business income whether or not a slip arrives. A missing slip is not a nil return.
What the platform has to do
Reporting platform operators that enable sellers to earn from certain activities have to collect information and file it with CRA. CRA's overview lists the sale of goods, rental of real property, rideshare and delivery, and personal services. Software that only moves money, with no further role, is not itself the platform. The practical effect for a seller is simple: the company you sell through may already be sending CRA a file with your identity and your totals. Plan the return as if the file exists. Then check whether you were actually excluded.
The $2,800 and 30-sale line, read carefully
CRA's guidance says a seller is excluded if the operator solely facilitated fewer than 30 relevant activities for the sale of goods, and the total consideration paid or credited did not exceed $2,800 in the reportable period. "Fewer than 30" and "$2,800 or less" are the words to keep. Twenty-nine sales at $3,000 fails. Forty sales at $2,000 fails. Twenty sales at $2,000 can fall inside the exclusion. Consideration is what was paid or credited, not your profit after the cost of goods. A year of break-even sales can still be over the line.
The same guidance lists other excluded sellers that do not apply to a person clearing a closet: governments, publicly traded entities, and some large property-rental operators. Do not borrow those categories. The goods test is the one that matters for Etsy, eBay, and similar marketplaces when what you sell is goods.
What to do with the information
If you are under both limits and the sales were personal-use property, you may have nothing to put on a T2125. If you are under both limits and the sales were a business, you still file the business income. If you are over either limit, expect the platform's report and make your T2125 match the year's deposits, not a rounded guess. Fees the platform kept are expenses if the activity is a business. They are not a reason to report only the payout and hope the slip shows the same number. Read the slip, if one arrives, against your own records.
Frequently asked questions
Does the $2,800 line mean I can earn $2,800 tax-free?
No. It is a reporting threshold for the platform, and it is measured on consideration, not profit. Business profit under that line is still income. Personal household goods sold at a loss are a different analysis, in the Marketplace article.
I sell on three platforms. Does each one get its own 30 sales?
The exclusion is written per platform operator: what that operator facilitated for you. Three platforms do not merge into one 30. They also do not give you three excuses on the tax return. Your income is the total of the businesses you ran, slips or no slips.
I only drive for a delivery app. Am I excluded?
The goods test is for sales of goods. Rideshare and delivery are listed as their own relevant activities. Use the driver tax article and CRA's platform pages for services, not the $2,800 goods line.
Sources
- CRA: who is affected by the digital-platform reporting rules
- CRA: guidance on the reporting rules
- CRA: reporting rules for digital platforms
