GST/HST for small businesses in Canada: when to register, rates by province and filing (2026)

• You are a small supplier, and do not have to register, if your revenues from worldwide taxable supplies (yours and your associates') are $30,000 or less in any single calendar quarter and in the last four consecutive calendar quarters ($50,000 for public service bodies). • Over $30,000 in a single calendar quarter: you stop being a small supplier with the sale that takes you over. You charge GST/HST on that sale and must register within 29 days. • Over $30,000 across four consecutive quarters (but not in one): you stay a small supplier until the end of the month after that quarter. Example from the CRA: $2,000 + $10,000 + $12,000 + $8,000 = $32,000 by March 31, 2025, so you start charging tax in May 2025. • Taxi and commercial ride-sharing businesses must register even below $30,000. • You can register voluntarily before the threshold. You then charge tax, can claim input tax credits and must stay registered for at least one year. To register, you need a business number (BN). Your GST/HST account number looks like 123456789 RT 0001.

The rate depends on where the supply is made, not where your business is located. Rates in effect on October 18, 2026, according to the CRA: • GST only (5%): Alberta, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Yukon. • HST 13%: Ontario. • HST 14%: Nova Scotia (15% until March 31, 2025). • HST 15%: New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island. • GST 5% plus a separate provincial sales tax (PST): British Columbia (PST 7%, general rate), Manitoba (PST 7%, general rate), Saskatchewan (PST 6%, general rate). The PST is administered by each province, so check its website. • Quebec: GST 5% plus the Quebec sales tax (QST) at 9.975%. When a PST applies, the CRA says to calculate the GST on the price excluding the PST. Basic groceries, prescription drugs and exports are examples of zero-rated supplies (0%).

Assuming a taxable supply of $1,000 and each tax calculated on the $1,000 price: • Alberta or a territory: $50 GST, total $1,050. • Ontario: $130 HST, total $1,130. • Nova Scotia: $140 HST, total $1,140. • New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador or PEI: $150 HST, total $1,150. • British Columbia or Manitoba: $50 GST + $70 PST, total $1,120. • Saskatchewan: $50 GST + $60 PST, total $1,110. • Quebec: $50 GST + $99.75 QST, total $1,149.75. Round each tax to the nearest cent: half a cent or more goes up. For Quebec amounts, our GST and QST calculator adds or removes both taxes. It covers Quebec only.

Once registered, you claim input tax credits (ITCs) for the GST/HST you pay on purchases and expenses used in your commercial activities. Your net tax is the tax you charged minus your ITCs. If the result is negative, you can claim a refund. • Example: an Ontario business bills $20,000 in a quarter and charges $2,600 HST. It pays $780 HST on $6,000 of business expenses. It remits $2,600 − $780 = $1,820. • If 90% or more of an operating expense is used in your commercial activities, you can claim 100% of the tax. Capital property (computers, vehicles) follows different rules. • Meals and entertainment: generally 50% of the tax. • No ITCs on purchases used to make exempt supplies, or on personal purchases. • Most businesses have four years to claim a missed ITC. • Keep invoices: from $100, the supplier's GST/HST registration number must appear; from $500, the buyer's name, a description and the terms of payment too.

The CRA assigns your reporting period based on your annual taxable supplies made in Canada: • $1,500,000 or less: annual (you can choose quarterly or monthly). • More than $1,500,000 up to $6,000,000: quarterly (you can choose monthly). • More than $6,000,000: monthly. Deadlines: • Monthly or quarterly: 1 month after the end of the period. A quarter ending March 31 is due April 30. • Annual: 3 months after your fiscal year-end. • Sole proprietor with a December 31 year-end and business income: payment by April 30, return by June 15. You file even if you had no sales (a nil return). Most registrants must file electronically, and payments of $10,000 or more must be made electronically. Annual filers may also have to pay instalments. In Quebec, Revenu Québec assigns your reporting period for both the GST/HST and the QST. The thresholds and deadlines are the same as the CRA's; annual filers generally have to pay instalments.

• In Quebec, Revenu Québec generally administers the GST/HST. If your business is physically located in Quebec, you register and file with Revenu Québec, not the CRA, for both the GST and the QST. • The QST rate is 9.975%, on top of the 5% GST. • Depending on your situation, Revenu Québec says you may be required to: register for the GST and QST, collect the taxes, calculate your input tax credits (ITCs, for the GST) and input tax refunds (ITRs, for the QST), and file returns for every reporting period. To work out GST and QST on an amount, use our GST and QST calculator.