OIDAR GST in India: A Guide for Canadian Companies (2026)

Assuming "we already understand GST" covers India too?

Worth checking that assumption specifically — see Section 1.

Executive summary

Of every jurisdiction we cover, Canada creates a uniquely specific trap — not because the rules are unusually different, but because the shared name invites an assumption of familiarity that doesn't hold up.

What you need to know

Canada's federal "GST" and India's "GST" are entirely separate taxes that happen to share an acronym — different statutes, different thresholds, different rates, different administering authorities.
Canada's simplified GST/HST regime for non-resident digital suppliers applies once sales to Canadian consumers exceed CA$30,000 over 12 months. India's OIDAR has no threshold at all.
Canada layers federal GST (5%) with provincial HST or PST, producing rates between 5% and 15% depending on the province. India applies a single national 18% IGST rate, with no provincial variation for the foreign supplier.
Canada's simplified regime files quarterly and offers no input tax credits. India's GSTR-5A is monthly.

Same name, different tax

This is worth addressing before anything else, because it's a trap specific to Canadian companies in a way it isn't for any other jurisdiction on this site.

Common mistake

Assuming that because your company already navigates "GST" compliance domestically in Canada, India's "GST" obligation is a variation on a theme you already understand. It is a genuinely separate tax regime — governed by entirely different legislation (India's IGST Act and CGST Act vs. Canada's Excise Tax Act), administered by a different authority (India's GST Network and CBIC vs. Canada's CRA), with different thresholds, rates, and filing mechanics. The shared three-letter name is the only thing they have in common.

This is a more specific version of a pattern that shows up across every jurisdiction on this site — companies reasonably importing a home-market mental model into an India assessment — but Canada is the only market where the two taxes share an identical name, which makes the wrong assumption unusually easy to make without noticing you've made it.

Professional tip

Treat "GST" as a generic tax-type label, the same way "sales tax" or "VAT" is used across many unrelated jurisdictions — not as a signal that Canada's and India's specific rules are related. Assess India's OIDAR framework on its own terms, starting fresh from our Complete Guide.

Canada's CA$30,000 threshold vs India's zero

Once the naming confusion is out of the way, the substantive differences start with thresholds.

Canada's simplified GST/HST regime

Since 1 July 2021, non-resident vendors and digital platform operators supplying digital products or services to Canadian consumers must register once their sales to Canadian consumers exceed CA$30,000 over any 12-month period. Below that threshold, no registration obligation arises.

Common mistake

Carrying the CA$30,000 mental threshold over to India and assuming a comparably modest revenue level is similarly safe. India's OIDAR framework has no threshold whatsoever — a single Indian customer, regardless of transaction value, creates the registration obligation. This is a materially wider gap than the Canada-vs-India rate or filing differences, and the one most likely to cause a genuine compliance gap if unaddressed.

A layered system vs a single rate

Canada's own tax system is more complex than India's in one specific respect, which is worth understanding so you don't try to replicate that complexity where it isn't needed.

Canada's federal GST is 5%, but five provinces have harmonised their provincial sales tax with it into a combined Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) ranging from 13% to 15%, while other provinces layer a separate Provincial Sales Tax (PST) or, in Quebec, the Quebec Sales Tax (QST) on top of the federal GST. A non-resident digital seller into Canada needs to track which province each customer is in and apply the correct combined rate.

India is simpler on this specific point

India's OIDAR framework applies a single national rate — 18% IGST — regardless of which Indian state the customer is in. There is no province-by-province (state-by-state) rate variation for a foreign OIDAR supplier to track, even though the customer's state must be recorded on the invoice per a 2024 CBIC circular. Don't build India-specific tax logic anticipating the kind of provincial rate complexity Canada requires — it isn't there.

Filing cadence and the ITC trade-off

Two more operational differences worth planning around.

Filing cadence

Canada's simplified GST/HST regime for non-resident digital businesses files quarterly. India's GSTR-5A is monthly, due by the 20th of the following month, with mandatory nil returns even in months with no India activity. A compliance calendar built around Canada's quarterly rhythm will under-serve India's monthly cadence if not adjusted specifically.

No input tax credits under the simplified regime

Canada's simplified registration trades away input tax credits (ITCs) in exchange for a lighter compliance burden — no Business Number, no security deposit, simpler reporting. India's GSTR-5A framework works similarly in this respect: there is no input tax credit mechanism for OIDAR B2C supplies either, so the 18% you charge is remitted in full, without offset against your own India-related costs. If your company registered under Canada's simplified regime specifically to accept the no-ITC trade-off for a lighter compliance burden, India's framework doesn't actually offer you a choice — the no-ITC position is the only option for OIDAR B2C supplies.

Professional tip

Factor the absence of input tax credits into your India pricing model from the start — the 18% is a real cost with no offset mechanism, unlike Canada's standard GST/HST registration option (Form RC1) which does allow ITC recovery if you have significant Canadian costs.

Checklist

Work through this specifically

Treat India's "GST" as an entirely separate tax from Canada's — don't let the shared name shortcut your assessment
Discard the CA$30,000 threshold mental model — India has no equivalent
Don't build province-style rate-variation logic for India — it's a single national 18% rate
Reset your compliance calendar for India's monthly GSTR-5A cadence, separate from Canada's quarterly rhythm
Price in the absence of input tax credits on your India revenue from the outset
Use our applicability checker to confirm your specific position

Glossary

GST/HST (Canada)

Canada's federal Goods and Services Tax, harmonised with provincial sales tax in five provinces into HST — a separate tax from India's GST despite the shared name.

Simplified GST/HST regime

Canada's streamlined registration option for non-resident digital suppliers, available above the CA$30,000 threshold, trading input tax credit eligibility for lighter compliance.

CRA

Canada Revenue Agency — administers Canadian GST/HST, distinct from India's GST Network (GSTN) and CBIC.

ITC

Input Tax Credit — available under Canada's standard GST/HST regime but not its simplified regime, and not available at all under India's OIDAR/GSTR-5A framework.

CA Parmod Bindal, FCA

Founder & Lead OIDAR Specialist, OIDARIndia™

A finance leader with over three decades in taxation, corporate governance, and cross-border advisory. Former Independent Director of Steel Authority of India (SAIL), a Maharatna PSU, and Independent Director of CSL Finance Limited, a listed NBFC. Read full profile →

About this guide & sources: This guide reflects the position as at July 2026, drawing on Canada's Excise Tax Act digital-economy measures (effective 1 July 2021) and CRA published guidance. It is provided for general information and does not constitute professional advice — Canadian GST/HST and Indian OIDAR obligations should each be assessed on their own specific facts.

Confident about Canadian GST, less sure about India's?

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