GST/HST on Creator Brand Deals: Canadian Brands, Foreign Brands and Agencies

• Are you required or voluntarily registered for GST/HST?
• What exactly are you supplying — content production, posting, usage rights, event attendance, consulting or a bundle?
• Who is the recipient under the agreement, and what evidence supports their location and status?

Only then should you decide whether the supply is taxable at 5%, 13%, 14% or 15%, zero-rated at 0%, or outside the GST/HST system. A campaign can contain more than one kind of supply, and specialized rules can apply to intellectual property, events or services tied to a specific location.

In GST/HST language, the key concept is generally the recipient of the supply — the person liable under the agreement to pay for it. That is not always the logo featured in the video, the person who emailed the brief or the entity whose bank account sends the wire.

Look for a consistent answer across:

• The legal entity named as client or buyer in the executed contract
• The entity responsible for paying your fee under that contract
• The bill-to entity and address on the purchase order
• The entity named on your invoice
• Who receives the deliverables and contractual usage rights
• Who can require revisions, enforce the agreement or cancel the work
• Any agency wording that says it acts as principal or only as agent for a disclosed brand

The CRA's general provincial place-of-supply rule for many services begins with a Canadian home or business address of the recipient that the supplier obtains in the ordinary course of business. If there is more than one, the address most closely connected with the supply is used. Further fallback and special rules apply when there is no such address or the service falls into a specific category.

• Ontario place of supply — generally 13% HST
• Nova Scotia place of supply — generally 14% HST
• New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, or PEI — generally 15% HST
• A non-participating province or territory such as Alberta or BC — generally 5% GST federally, with separate provincial-tax questions where relevant

Check current rates and the applicable rule on the CRA's GST/HST rates and place-of-supply page. Do not use an old rate table saved in an invoice template.

Certain services supplied to a non-resident person can be zero-rated at 0%, allowing a GST/HST registrant to make the supply without charging tax while potentially retaining input tax credit eligibility. But the export rules contain exclusions. The customer's foreign mailing address or a USD payment is not enough on its own.

• Confirm the legal recipient is actually non-resident
• Check whether the recipient is registered under the normal GST/HST regime where that matters
• Identify whether the service or rights fall within an export provision and whether an exclusion applies
• Check whether a Canadian permanent establishment or Canadian third party is the real recipient
• Keep satisfactory evidence of non-residence, registration status and the transaction

The CRA summarizes exported-service rules on GST/HST on imports and exports. For the detailed conditions and exclusions, see GST/HST Memorandum 4-5-3.

• Full legal name of the entity contracting with you
• Business address most closely connected with the engagement
• Whether the agency signs as principal or as agent for a named brand
• Who is legally liable for the creator fee
• Who receives each deliverable and each licence or usage right
• GST/HST registration information where relevant
• Purchase-order and invoice instructions that match the contract

If the contract, purchase order and invoice instructions name different entities, pause and ask for written clarification. Fixing the paperwork before posting is much easier than defending a guessed tax treatment later.

• Executed contract and all amendments
• Statement of work, campaign brief and usage-rights schedule
• Purchase order showing legal entity and address
• Invoice showing your GST/HST number, rate and tax amount when applicable
• Written explanation for any 0% or no-tax treatment
• Evidence supporting the recipient's residency and registration status for an export position
• Payment remittance and bank record
• Correspondence resolving any mismatch among brand, agency and payer

CRA records must provide enough detail to determine your GST/HST obligations and entitlements. Its charge-and-collect guidance specifically calls for records detailed enough to determine whether GST/HST applies and how much was collected or claimable.

• Charging the creator's home-province rate on every invoice
• Using the payer's bank address as the customer address
• Assuming the featured brand is always the recipient
• Assuming an agency is always just an intermediary
• Treating every USD payment or foreign logo as zero-rated
• Keeping no evidence for the recipient's non-resident status
• Bundling content production, IP rights and event services without checking whether different rules matter
• Leaving contract, purchase order and invoice entity names inconsistent

Ask before invoicing when:

• The contract names both a brand and an agency without saying who is liable
• A Canadian affiliate is involved in a deal described as foreign
• The campaign includes broad or perpetual usage rights
• The work includes an in-person event or location-specific production
• You have already invoiced without GST/HST and the customer may be Canadian
• The recipient is a non-resident that may be GST/HST registered or have a Canadian permanent establishment

Start with the registration threshold and filing basics in GST/HST for Canadian creators. For the amount to record when an agency or platform makes deductions, read gross earnings versus net payout.