SPORTS CARD TAX CHECKLIST: WHAT CANADIAN DEALERS NEED READY FOR THEIR ACCOUNTANT

Tax season hits and suddenly every card dealer in Canada is looking for receipts they swore they saved somewhere. The eBay purchase history goes back far enough. The PayPal records are findable. But the cards bought at shows? The trades logged in DMs? The grading invoices buried in email?

That is the scramble. And it is entirely avoidable.

This is the checklist I wish every card dealer would work through before they sit down with their accountant. It covers what to gather, how to organize it, and what your accountant actually needs from you.

Before You Start

Two things to figure out first.

Are you reporting as a business or hobby? If you are doing $10,000+ per year in card sales with intent to profit, you are almost certainly a business in CRA’s eyes. Read the full breakdown on business income vs. capital gains if you are not sure.

Do you need to file GST/HST? If your commercial sales exceeded $30,000 in any four consecutive quarters, you are required to register and remit. Read the GST guide for the details.

Once you know those two answers, the rest is just gathering the numbers.

The Checklist

1. Total Sales by Platform

Pull your annual sales totals from every platform you sold on.

• eBay — download your annual sales report from Seller Hub
• COMC — export your sales history
• Facebook Marketplace / Groups — no export available, but check your PayPal/e-Transfer records for sales
• Card shows — cash sales need your own tracking (this is where most dealers have gaps)
• Other platforms — Whatnot, MySlabs, private sales

Your accountant needs the gross sale amount, not the net after fees. Platform fees are deducted separately as expenses.

2. Cost of Goods Sold

This is the total you paid for the cards you sold during the year. Not the cards you bought — the cards you sold. If you bought 500 cards and sold 200, your cost of goods sold is only for those 200.

For each card sold, you need the acquisition cost (cost basis). If you have been tracking properly all year, this is a simple export. If you have not, now is the time to reconstruct what you can.

3. Inventory Count

If you are reporting as a business, you should have an opening and closing inventory value. CRA expects this for any business that holds inventory.

• Opening inventory — the value of unsold cards on January 1
• Closing inventory — the value of unsold cards on December 31

The simplest method: count your inventory at cost (what you paid for each card). If you have been tracking cost basis all year, this is straightforward. If not, do a physical count and estimate using purchase records.

4. Expenses

Gather receipts and totals for every business expense. Common ones for card dealers:

• Platform fees — eBay final value fees, PayPal/payment processing fees
• Shipping costs — postage, packaging materials, mailers, tape, toploaders, team bags
• Grading fees — PSA, BGS, CGC, SGC submission costs
• Shipping to grading companies — insured shipping both ways
• Show expenses — table fees, admission, travel, parking, hotel if overnight
• Supplies — card storage, penny sleeves, magnetic holders, shipping labels, printer ink
• Photography — if you use specific equipment or a lightbox for card photos
• Software/subscriptions — inventory tracking tools, comp services, listing tools
• Vehicle expenses — mileage to shows, post office runs, supply store trips (log the date, destination, and kilometres)

Keep the receipts. Digital is fine. A photo of a paper receipt saved to a folder on your phone counts. CRA’s requirement is that you can produce the receipt if asked.

5. GST/HST Records (If Registered)

If you are a GST registrant, your accountant also needs:

• GST collected — total GST/HST you charged on sales
• Input tax credits (ITCs) — GST/HST you paid on business purchases (inventory, supplies, grading, shipping)
• Net remittance — GST collected minus ITCs (this is what you owe CRA)
• Filing history — confirmation that quarterly or annual returns were filed on time

6. Bank and Payment Records

Your accountant may ask for:

• Business bank statements — if you have a separate business account (you should)
• PayPal annual summary — PayPal generates a 1099-K equivalent for Canadian sellers
• e-Transfer records — for Facebook group and private sales
• Cash sales log — if you sell at shows for cash, keep a running log with dates and amounts

7. Trade Log

If you traded cards during the year, each trade is a taxable event. For each trade, document:

• What you gave up and its fair market value
• What you received and its fair market value
• The date of the trade
• Who you traded with (name or username)

The fair market value of what you received becomes the cost basis of your new card. The FMV of what you gave up minus its cost basis is your gain or loss on the traded card.

What Your Accountant Actually Wants

Most accountants do not want a shoebox of receipts. They want a summary. Ideally:

1. A single spreadsheet with all sales (date, description, sale price, cost basis, gain/loss)
2. A list of expenses by category with totals
3. Opening and closing inventory values
4. GST collected and ITCs claimed (if registered)
5. Any notes on unusual items (large trades, inherited cards, bulk collection purchases)

The free Tax Playbook spreadsheet is built to produce exactly this output. The year-end summary tab gives your accountant everything they need on one page.

The Bottom Line

Tax time does not have to be painful. The dealers who have a bad time are the ones who try to reconstruct a year of activity from memory and fragmented records in the last week of April.

The dealers who have a clean experience are the ones who tracked as they went. Even imperfectly. Even in a messy spreadsheet. Having something is dramatically better than having nothing.

If your records are a mess and you need help getting them organized, that is exactly what the Tax Ready service is for. Send me your exports and I will turn them into something your accountant can work with.

Frequently Asked Questions

When is the tax filing deadline for card dealers in Canada?

If you are a sole proprietor (which most card dealers are), your personal tax return is due June 15, but any taxes owing are still due April 30. If you owe money and pay after April 30, interest starts accruing even though the return itself is not late until June 15.

Do I need a separate business bank account?

CRA does not legally require it, but it makes your life dramatically easier. Mixing personal and business transactions in one account makes it harder to track expenses, harder to reconcile, and harder to defend in an audit. A basic business chequing account costs $5-15 per month and saves hours of sorting at tax time.

What if I did not track anything all year?

Start reconstructing now. Pull eBay and PayPal histories. Check your email for grading invoices. Look through your phone photos for show purchases. Bank statements can fill in gaps. It will not be perfect, but a reasonable reconstruction with notes on your methodology is far better than no records at all. And next year, start tracking from day one.

Can my accountant file my GST return and income tax together?

They are separate filings. Your income tax return (T1 with T2125 business statement) is filed annually. GST returns can be annual, quarterly, or monthly depending on your revenue. Your accountant can handle both, but make sure they know you are a GST registrant so they do not miss the HST filing deadlines.