Buying wholesale
Is There HST on Wholesale Food Orders in Canada?
Most basic groceries sold in Canada, wholesale or retail, are zero-rated for GST/HST — meaning tax applies at a rate of 0%, not that the sale is exempt from the system entirely. Zero-rating covers most food and beverages sold for human consumption, including the kind of dried spices, herbs, olives and canned goods a Levantine pantry wholesaler carries, but 'basic groceries' is a defined category with real exceptions, and non-food items like soap and cosmetics are fully taxable. This page is a factual summary, not tax advice — confirm how it applies to your specific order with the CRA or your accountant.
Which wholesale foods are zero-rated for GST/HST
The Canada Revenue Agency treats most food and beverages sold for human consumption as basic groceries, taxed at 0% GST/HST — this is set out in the CRA's GST/HST Memoranda Series, Basic Groceries. In practical terms for a pantry importer's range, that generally covers dried spices and herbs, canned and jarred goods like olives, tomato paste and preserves, coffee, and packaged dry goods sold as food. Zero-rated doesn't mean the transaction sits outside the GST/HST system — it means the applicable rate on that sale is 0%, which matters for how a business accounts for input tax credits.
Where zero-rating stops: snack-category exceptions
The basic groceries category carries specific carve-outs. Items the CRA treats as snack foods — candies, confectionery, and similar categories defined in the memorandum — are taxable even though they're food, along with certain prepared or ready-to-eat items depending on how they're sold. Where a product could plausibly sit in more than one category, the CRA's own guidance is the reference point, not a general assumption based on the product type alone; this is exactly the kind of line a buyer or their accountant should check against the current memorandum for anything borderline.
Are soap and personal-care products taxable?
Yes — soap, Aleppo soap and other personal-care items such as hair oils and glycerin are cosmetic products, not basic groceries, and GST/HST applies to them at the standard rate. This is a straightforward category distinction rather than a grey area: food-for-consumption and cosmetics are assessed under different rules, and mixing the two in a single wholesale order means the invoice reflects both a zero-rated food total and a taxable non-food total on the same document.
What this means for a wholesale buyer's invoice
A single Levant Direct order that combines, say, spices with Aleppo soap will typically show a zero-rated food line and a taxable personal-care line rather than one blanket tax treatment — that split follows CRA categorization, not a supplier's own choice. Exactly how a specific product or mixed order is taxed, and how it should be recorded for your own GST/HST filing, is worth confirming directly with the CRA or your accountant rather than inferred from this page alone; it's a factual overview, not tax advice for your business.
Related questions
Does zero-rated mean I don't need to worry about GST/HST at all?
No — zero-rated means the rate charged is 0%, not that the sale falls outside the GST/HST system. Registered businesses still account for zero-rated sales in their filings; confirm the specifics with the CRA or your accountant.
Is bottled or flavoured water treated the same as plain groceries?
Beverage categories carry their own specific rules under the basic groceries memorandum, and treatment can differ from a plain dried or canned food item — check the current CRA guidance for the exact product in question.