Billing FAQ for the US, Canada and Australia: Currency, Tax, Receipts

Prices are in euros (EUR) everywhere, including the US, Canada and Australia: Spicy Basic costs €10 a month and the smallest credit pack €2. When you pay, your card issuer converts the amount to your currency at its own exchange rate and may add a fee (next section). Stripe's checkout page shows the amount in euros before you confirm.

It can, even when you pay in your own currency. If the business you're paying is based outside your country, your card issuer may treat the payment as a foreign transaction:

United States. The CFPB's official interpretation of Regulation Z counts an issuer's charge on a purchase from a foreign merchant, including through its website, as a foreign transaction fee, whether the purchase is in a foreign currency or in US dollars.

Australia. ASIC's Moneysmart says card providers may charge an international transaction fee on transactions with overseas merchants, even when the amount is in Australian dollars.

Canada. The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada explains that a card purchase in a foreign currency is converted at your issuer's exchange rate plus a conversion charge set out in your card agreement.

Your card agreement lists the fees that apply to you. Spicy Studio doesn't add card surcharges or payment fees of its own.

Whether tax is added to an online subscription depends on where you live, what you buy and which tax registrations the seller holds. Whatever applies, Stripe's checkout page shows the total before you pay, and that total is what's charged to your card (your bank's own fees aside).

United States. Sales tax is set by states and local governments, not federally, and states differ on whether digital subscriptions are taxed at all. Since the Supreme Court's *South Dakota v. Wayfair* decision of June 21, 2018, a state can require out-of-state sellers to collect its tax once their sales into the state pass a threshold the state sets. The ruling notes that where a seller doesn't collect, residents owe the same tax as use tax.

Canada. GST is 5%, and Ontario (13%), Nova Scotia (14%), New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island (15%) charge HST instead, according to the CRA's rate table. A seller based outside Canada has to register under the CRA's simplified GST/HST regime once its digital sales to Canadian consumers pass CA$30,000 in 12 months, and then charges the rate of your province. Some provinces also have their own tax on software and online services, with their own rules for sellers elsewhere: British Columbia's 7% PST applies to software, including software as a service, and sellers outside Canada register once their BC sales pass CA$10,000 a year; Saskatchewan's 6% PST covers hosted software; Manitoba has applied its 7% retail sales tax to cloud computing services since January 1, 2026; and Québec's 9.975% QST applies once a seller outside Canada passes CA$30,000 in sales to Québec consumers.

Australia. GST is 10%. Since July 1, 2017 it has applied to digital products and services that overseas businesses sell to Australian consumers. An overseas seller registers with the ATO once its Australian sales reach A$75,000 a year, and the ACCC's price display rules require prices shown to consumers to be a single total that includes any GST.

Canada. If you're registered for GST/HST, a seller in the simplified regime doesn't have to charge you GST/HST when you give it your registration number at the time of purchase. If it charges you anyway, you can't claim that tax back as an input tax credit and have to ask the seller for a refund, according to the CRA's Notice 322. Québec has a matching rule for QST registrants whose number contains TQ. For input tax credits on purchases from a normally registered supplier, a receipt of CA$100 or more must show the supplier's registration number, among other details.

Australia. A GST-registered business gives an overseas seller its ABN and confirms that it's registered for GST; the seller then doesn't charge GST, and the reverse charge may apply to the business instead (ATO). Only a seller with an ABN can issue a tax invoice. Sellers in the ATO's simplified GST registration hold an ATO reference number (ARN) instead and issue receipts, and overseas sellers of digital services don't have to issue tax invoices at all.

United States. Rules for business purchases, such as resale exemptions, are set state by state.

Spicy Studio's checkout doesn't ask for a business tax number. For business billing questions, use the support page and choose Billing & Payments.

Payments are processed by Stripe, and each successful payment, monthly renewals included, gets a Stripe receipt by email that you can open online or download as a PDF. Keep it with your records: for many expense claims the receipt is the document you'll be asked for. If you need a copy, or a document with your business details on it, ask through the support page under Billing & Payments.

Plan changes follow the rules on the pricing page: moving up is paid at checkout and starts a new monthly cycle, moving down takes effect at your next renewal with nothing charged that day, and one-time credit packs never expire. Refunds, where the Terms or the law allow one, go back to the card you paid with, in the currency you paid in.

This page explains general rules, checked against the official sources linked above on October 19, 2026. It isn't legal or tax advice: rules and thresholds change, and your own situation may differ, so check with the tax authority where you live or an adviser before relying on it. If you sell AI content yourself, AI Services to Sell points to the IRS, CRA and ATO pages on side income, and the rules for creators are in our guides for Australia and Canada.