You log in to sell something and there is a banner you can't dismiss: confirm your seller information, add your taxpayer details, enter your Social Insurance Number. Or an email from eBay saying payouts will be blocked. Or Etsy telling you your shop will go into vacation mode by a certain date. It looks like a scam, or at least like overreach. Most of the time it is neither.
Since January 1, 2024, Canada's Reporting Rules for Digital Platform Operators have required online marketplaces to collect identifying details about their sellers and send them to the Canada Revenue Agency once a year. The SIN or Business Number request is the platform doing what the law now asks of it. Below is what the CRA rule says, who it covers, what each platform does if you don't answer, and what it means for your own taxes.
What the rule actually is
The CRA's guidance says the rules came into force on January 1, 2024, so the first reportable period was calendar year 2024. A platform that has reportable sellers must file an information return with the CRA by January 31 of the following year; the first one was due January 31, 2025. Platforms such as Etsy, eBay and Airbnb say they report each January for the previous year.
The rules cover four kinds of activity done for payment through a platform, in the CRA's words:
- 'selling goods for consideration' (Etsy, eBay and other marketplaces)
- 'renting real or immovable property, for consideration' (short-term rental hosts)
- 'providing a personal or prescribed service, for consideration'. The CRA's examples include transportation and delivery services, manual labour, tutoring, housekeeping, gardening and online classes
- 'renting a means of transport for consideration'
What the platform collects about you
According to the CRA, the report includes your name, primary address, each jurisdiction where you are resident for tax purposes, your tax identification number, your date of birth if you are an individual, any financial account identifiers the platform has (such as the bank account your payouts go to), and the total paid to you in each calendar quarter, with the number of sales and any fees, commissions or taxes withheld. For rentals it also includes the address of each listing and the number of days rented.
The CRA's guidance says a tax identification number in Canada includes a social insurance number, a business number or an account number issued to a trust. eBay spells out which one it wants:
- Individuals: a nine-digit Social Insurance Number (SIN).
- Corporations and partnerships: the nine-digit Business Number (BN) issued by the CRA. The CRA's guidance says only the BN is required for a Canadian entity.
- Trusts: a trust account number, which eBay describes as eight digits preceded by the letter 'T'.
- Airbnb also accepts a First Nations Identity Number for Canadian hosts.
Who is covered, and who isn't
The rule is aimed at sellers who are resident in Canada, plus anyone renting out property located here. The CRA's guidance lists a few excluded sellers. The one that matters for most people is the small seller of goods: a seller with fewer than 30 sales of goods in the year, whose total payments do not exceed $2,800, is not reported.
eBay and Etsy phrase the same test as a trigger. eBay reports Canadian sellers who reach $2,800 or more after fees, commissions or taxes, or who complete 30 or more sales, in a calendar year. Etsy uses the same two thresholds for physical goods and adds that any sales of made-to-order digital items make you reportable. Hit either number and the request will come.
Notice that this small-seller exclusion only applies to goods. The CRA's list of exclusions has nothing similar for property rentals or personal services, so a host or a delivery driver can be reportable with far fewer transactions. The other exclusions are mostly for large entities: governmental entities, publicly traded companies, and an entity with more than 2,000 rentals of the same property listing in the year.
What happens if you ignore it
The CRA's guidance says every reportable seller shall provide their tax identification number when a reporting platform operator asks, and that a seller who doesn't is liable to a penalty of $500 for each failure, unless an exception applies. It also says that not providing it may end your relationship with the platform under the platform's own agreement. On top of that, each platform has its own rules, and these are what most people run into first:
- eBay: if you don't act within 30 days of its email request, eBay says it is required to block payouts on your account until the information is provided. eBay also asks eligible sellers to refresh their tax information every 36 months.
- Etsy: if you miss the deadline shown in Shop Manager, Etsy says you won't be able to receive funds from your sales and may put your shop in Etsy-initiated vacation mode, which you can't switch off until you confirm. If you still haven't finished 90 days after the deadline, the shop closes. Etsy says it can't grant extensions.
- Airbnb: hosts who don't provide the information may have payouts suspended after notice. Airbnb says payouts resume once the taxpayer information is provided.
How to give the information safely
A SIN is worth protecting, so enter it only inside the platform itself, never by replying to an email or a message. Type the site address yourself, or open the app, and use the path the platform documents:
- Etsy: go to 'Shop Manager', click 'Get started' in the banner on your dashboard and follow the prompts. Canadian sellers enter tax IDs on the 'Legal and tax information' page. Etsy's genuine emails come from mail@etsy.com, and any address it asks for must be your taxpayer address, not a PO box.
- eBay: look for the banner in your seller dashboard; eBay says it also sends an email and a message in your eBay inbox. If there is no banner when you sign in, treat the email with suspicion.
- Airbnb: select your host profile picture, then 'Account', 'Taxes' and 'Add tax info'.
- If you sell as a corporation or partnership, use the business's BN rather than your personal SIN.
What it means for your own taxes
The report is information, not a bill. The CRA says plainly that income from platform economy activities is subject to taxation, and that was already the case before platforms started reporting. What has changed is that the CRA now gets figures it can line up against what you file. The platform's copy, which it must give you by January 31 each year, is a useful check against your own records.
If you haven't reported platform income in earlier years, the CRA's tax tip for sellers points to three routes: changing your income tax and benefit return, changing your GST/HST return, or the Voluntary Disclosures Program. Sort it out before the CRA writes to you, not after.
GST/HST is a separate question. The CRA says you are a small supplier, and don't have to register, if your revenue from worldwide taxable supplies does not exceed $30,000 over four consecutive calendar quarters. If you go over $30,000 in a single calendar quarter, you stop being a small supplier with the sale that crossed the line and must register; if you go over it across four quarters, you stop being one at the end of the month after the quarter in which you crossed it. You can also register voluntarily below the threshold.
Prevent it next time
The easiest way to avoid a blocked payout is to answer the first request rather than the last one.
- Add your SIN or BN as soon as the banner appears, even if you are unsure you will cross the thresholds this year.
- Keep your legal name and address on the platform matching what the CRA has for you; it saves a second round of checks.
- Put a reminder in your calendar for eBay's 36-month refresh.
- Keep your own record of sales, fees and refunds through the year, and download the platform's annual report each January to compare.
- This is general information, not tax or legal advice. For your own situation, check with the CRA or an accountant.
Selling from a page you control
If you also sell directly to your own customers, a free OneSol page lets you list your products and links in one place, and on Pro you take card payments through your own Stripe, PayPal or Square account, so those sales sit in one account you control and are easy to total at tax time. OneSol does not file taxes or give tax advice, and income is taxable wherever you earn it.