Global Courant
Shopify CEO Tobias Lutke is poised to argue with the Canadian Revenue Agency (CRA) over a move by the IRS that he says is an “overreach” to the e-commerce company.
In a tweet, Lutke said the Ottawa-based e-commerce company was asked to hand over tax records from more than 121,000 Canadian stores over the past six years.
“I don’t really want a fight with the CRA (Canada’s tax authority) – but we were asked to return 6 years of records for all Canadian Shopify stores,” Lutke tweeted on Friday.
“This feels like low-key overreach to me. We’ll fight this.”
I don’t exactly want to argue with the CRA (Canada’s tax authority) – but we were asked to return 6 years worth of records for all Canadian Shopify stores. This feels like low-key overreach to me. We will fight this.
— tobi luke (@tobi) June 24, 2023
CTVNews.ca has contacted the CRA and Shopify, but they have not reached out in time for publication.
While there are no details yet on why the CRA is investigating Shopify’s data, it’s not unheard of for the agency to go after ecommerce platforms over tax evasion concerns, such as with Paypal. eBay was also subject to an investigation into its high-earning sellers on the website, requiring their earnings to be reported to the agency.
The news also comes as the company reported it would reduce the workforce by 20 percent after 1,000 workers were laid off last summer. The company’s first-quarter earnings report also said that the company will sell its tool for merchants, Shopify Logistics, to supply chain management firm Flexaport.
Shopify’s Q1 report revealed that the company earned $68 million in the first quarter of the year ended March 31, 2023. Compared to the same quarter period last year, revenue of $1.5 billion is up 25 percent.
With files from the Canadian Press.
CRA requests that Shopify transfer data from
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