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Kitchen & bath renovator cross-border tax: the US brand is not the origin
For most renovation firms the cross-border question is narrow: US-made cabinetry, fixtures, and appliances bought in US dollars, cleared through CBSA, and installed in Brampton kitchens. The tax is not exotic. Duty depends on where the product was made, not on whose name is on it; the 5 percent GST paid at the border comes back as an input tax credit; and the real exposure is the deposit you wire in US dollars months before the cabinets ship.
By the AnalytIQ Accounting team · Last reviewed: August 12, 2026
Duty follows origin, not the logo
A US cabinet line, a US faucet brand, and a US appliance brand can arrive from three different countries. Under CUSMA, goods that qualify as originating in the US or Mexico enter Canada duty-free, and the importer supports that claim with a certification of origin from the supplier; commercial shipments below a low-value threshold, CAD 3,300 as at the time of writing, can be claimed without a formal certification. A US-branded faucet assembled in China gets the rate for China, and a US-branded range built in Mexico is judged on Mexican origin, so the first question to a new supplier is where the product is made, not where the invoice comes from.
Classification does the rest. Wooden kitchen cabinets, sinks, faucets, and appliances each fall under their own tariff headings with their own most-favoured-nation rates, and since 2025 Canada has also applied surtaxes to changing lists of US-origin goods in response to US tariffs. Those lists have been revised more than once, so we check the current list when you place an order rather than when the goods arrive. A surtax, like any duty, is a landed cost of the job; it is not recoverable the way GST is.
The border bill: GST, brokerage, and where de minimis stops
A commercial importer in Ontario pays only the 5 percent federal GST at the border, on the value for duty plus any duty and surtax; the provincial portion of HST is not collected on commercial goods, and a renovator claiming full input tax credits does not self-assess it. That GST is recovered on your next return, supported by the accounting declaration your broker files. Everything else on the broker's invoice — duty, surtax, freight, brokerage fees — goes into job cost.
| How the goods arrive | Duty | GST | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Courier parcel from the US, CAD 40 or less | None | None | Hinge samples and small hardware — the CUSMA de minimis |
| Courier parcel, CAD 40 to 150 | None | 5 percent | Duty relieved, tax still collected |
| Courier over CAD 150, or any freight or pallet | By origin and tariff heading | 5 percent | A full entry; cabinetry is always here |
| You drive to Buffalo and pick up | By origin | 5 percent at the crossing | Plus New York sales tax at the store, which nobody refunds |
| Warranty replacement part shipped at no charge | On the declared value unless relief applies | On the declared value | Free goods still need a value for duty |
Since October 2024, CBSA's CARM system has been the system of record for commercial imports: your corporation needs an import-export account on its business number, a CARM Client Portal registration, and its own financial security if it wants goods released before duties are paid, instead of relying on the broker's bond. A renovator who has always let the freight forwarder handle it discovers this the first time a pallet of cabinets sits at the border. We register the accounts as part of setup, and we tie each broker statement to the job that ordered the goods.
USD deposits against a quote that is fixed in dollars
The exposure that actually moves a renovator's margin is exchange. A US manufacturer typically wants a deposit in US dollars at order and the balance before shipping, weeks or months later, while your contract with the homeowner is fixed in Canadian dollars the day it is signed. Every cent the Canadian dollar drops between those dates comes out of your margin, on the balance still owing.
In QuickBooks Online we run multicurrency with the manufacturer as a USD vendor: bills are recorded in US dollars, payments from a USD account or a converted CAD payment post the realized gain or loss automatically, and open USD payables are revalued at year-end. CRA accepts the Bank of Canada rate on the transaction date or a consistent average, and our guide to recording USD transactions in Canadian books covers the conventions. The planning side is simpler than the accounting: a short quote validity window, an explicit exchange contingency in the estimate, a USD account funded when the contract is signed rather than when the balance is due, and for a large order a forward contract from your bank. Landed cost for job costing is the converted price plus freight, duty, surtax, and brokerage, with the recoverable GST left out.
When the work itself crosses the border
Occasionally a long-standing client asks you to redo the kitchen in their Florida or Arizona condo. The Canada-US treaty only treats a construction site as a permanent establishment once it lasts more than twelve months, so a three-week install does not by itself create US federal income tax for your corporation, though a US client may still ask for a Form W-8BEN-E to document that. The state is the harder part: most states license contractors, several require a licence before you can pull a permit, and state sales tax on the materials you bring in or buy locally does not follow the treaty at all. We flag those questions before you quote, and we help you decide whether the job is worth the paperwork.
The rest of the cross-border series lives on our cross-border tax services page, and the domestic side of renovation books — deposits, change orders, and job costing — is on our renovator bookkeeping page.
Source: CBSA — CARM: CBSA Assessment and Revenue Management.
Common questions.
Do I pay 13 percent HST on cabinets I import from the US?
No. A commercial importer pays only the 5 percent federal GST at the border, and you recover it as an input tax credit on your next return. Duty and any surtax are a real cost and go into the job.
Is a US-brand product automatically duty-free under CUSMA?
No. Duty-free treatment depends on where the goods were produced and on a certification of origin from the supplier, not on the brand. A US-branded faucet made in China pays the rate for China.
How do I protect my margin when the manufacturer bills in US dollars?
Keep the quote validity window short, build an exchange contingency into the estimate, fund a USD account when the client signs rather than when the balance is due, and consider a forward contract for large orders. The books then record the realized gain or loss on each payment.
Related reading
US suppliers handled without surprises at the border.
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