You have to register for GST/HST once your revenue from taxable work goes over $30,000, either in a single calendar quarter or over four consecutive calendar quarters. Below that, you are a small supplier and registering is your choice. If the work you do is taxable, that threshold decides when you start.
The small supplier test
The CRA calls a business under the threshold a small supplier. The threshold is $30,000, and it is measured two ways.
A calendar quarter is three months starting January 1, April 1, July 1 or October 1. It has nothing to do with your fiscal year.
What you add up is revenue from taxable supplies, before expenses, from all your businesses, plus those of any associated businesses. Sales of capital property, like your old truck, are left out.
Going over in a single quarter
If one calendar quarter on its own goes over $30,000, you stop being a small supplier with the job that pushed you over. You charge GST/HST on that job, and you have 29 days from that date to register.
Going over across four quarters
If you pass $30,000 over four consecutive quarters but never in one quarter, you get a short grace period. You stop being a small supplier at the end of the month after the quarter in which you went over. Your registration takes effect no later than your first sale after that, you charge tax from that date, and you register within 29 days of it.
Example: a plumber in Winnipeg
These are example numbers. The business was under $30,000 for every earlier run of four quarters.
| Calendar quarter | Revenue | Running four quarter total |
|---|---|---|
| July to September 2025 | $6,000 | |
| October to December 2025 | $7,500 | |
| January to March 2026 | $8,000 | |
| April to June 2026 | $9,500 | $31,000 |
- The total passes $30,000 in the April to June 2026 quarter.
- The plumber stops being a small supplier at the end of the following month: July 31, 2026.
- The first job after that is on August 3, 2026. The effective date of registration can be no later than that day, and GST applies to that job.
- Registration has to be done within 29 days of August 3.
Registering before you have to
A small supplier can register voluntarily. It can make sense for a trades business, and it can also cost you work.
What you gain. Once registered, you claim input tax credits (ITCs) for the GST/HST you pay on business purchases. Buy $4,000 of tools in Ontario and the $520 of HST comes back to you on your return. The same goes for materials, fuel and phone. If you are buying a truck, the tax on it can come back too. If the truck is also your personal vehicle, you claim only the business share, and vehicles the CRA treats as passenger vehicles have their own rules.
What you give up. You charge GST/HST on all your taxable work, to every client. A commercial client who is registered claims that tax back, so it costs them nothing. A homeowner cannot, so to them your price is simply higher than an unregistered competitor’s.
Timing matters. GST/HST paid before you registered is generally not recoverable. Capital property and inventory you still have when you register are the exception, but the credit is based on their basic tax content, which is less than the tax you paid if the item has lost value since.
If you register voluntarily, you have to stay registered for at least one year before you can ask to cancel. If most of your work is for homeowners, run the numbers with your accountant before registering early.
How to register
The fastest way is Business Registration Online (BRO). You need a CRA account to use it. In one application you can get a business number, if you do not already have one, and add a GST/HST program account to it. An unincorporated business only needs a business number once it registers for a CRA program account, and GST/HST is one of those. If you cannot use BRO, the CRA offers other options, including Form RC1 by mail.
Save or print the number when you get it. The CRA does not send it to you.
GST and HST rates by province and territory
Which rate you charge depends on the place of supply. For work on a house or other building, that is the province or territory where the property is, not where your shop is.
| Province or territory | Federal tax | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Alberta | GST | 5% |
| British Columbia | GST | 5% |
| Manitoba | GST | 5% |
| New Brunswick | HST | 15% |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | HST | 15% |
| Northwest Territories | GST | 5% |
| Nova Scotia | HST | 14% |
| Nunavut | GST | 5% |
| Ontario | HST | 13% |
| Prince Edward Island | HST | 15% |
| Quebec | GST | 5% |
| Saskatchewan | GST | 5% |
| Yukon | GST | 5% |
Rates in force on September 14, 2026, from the CRA rates page. Nova Scotia lowered its HST from 15% to 14% on April 1, 2025. Older price sheets and invoice templates for Nova Scotia work may still carry 15%.
The sales tax calculator adds any of these rates to a price, or backs the tax out of a total a client has already agreed to.
PST and QST on top
Four provinces charge a sales tax of their own alongside the 5% GST:
- British Columbia: PST at 7%
- Manitoba: RST at 7%
- Saskatchewan: PST at 6%
- Quebec: QST at 9.975%
For a trades business this is where it gets tricky. Provincial sales tax on construction, installation and repair work has its own rules in each of these provinces, including who pays the tax on materials and whether labour is taxed, and those rules do not follow the GST rules. This page does not try to cover them. Read your province’s own guidance before you set up an invoice: British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Quebec.
What your invoice has to show
Your invoice needs to carry enough for a registered client to claim an input tax credit. The CRA sets that by the total of the sale. The thresholds went up on April 20, 2021, from $30 and $150 to $100 and $500, so older guides show the wrong numbers.
| Information | Under $100 | $100 to $499.99 | $500 or more |
|---|---|---|---|
| Your business or trading name | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Invoice date | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Total amount payable | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| The GST/HST charged, or a statement that the total includes it at the applicable rate | No | Yes | Yes |
| Which items are taxable and which are exempt, when both are on one invoice | No | Yes | Yes |
| Your GST/HST registration number | No | Yes | Yes |
| The client’s name or trading name | No | No | Yes |
| A brief description of the work or goods | No | No | Yes |
| Terms of payment | No | No | Yes |
Most trades invoices are over $500, so the practical answer is: put all of it on every invoice.
Filing periods
The CRA assigns your reporting period from your annual revenue from taxable supplies.
| Annual taxable revenue | Assigned period | You can choose |
|---|---|---|
| $1,500,000 or less | Annual | Quarterly or monthly |
| Over $1,500,000 to $6,000,000 | Quarterly | Monthly |
| Over $6,000,000 | Monthly | No other option |
- Monthly and quarterly filers file and pay one month after the end of each period.
- Annual filers file and pay three months after the fiscal year end.
- Sole proprietors with a December 31 year end and business income that year file by June 15 but pay by April 30.
- Annual filers whose net tax for the previous fiscal year was $3,000 or more may have to pay quarterly instalments.
Some owners choose quarterly even when they could file annually, so a year of collected tax does not land as one bill.
The quick method, in plain words
Under the regular method, you remit the GST/HST you charged minus the ITCs on what you bought. That means tracking the tax on every receipt.
The quick method skips most of that. You multiply your revenue, including the tax you charged, by a lower remittance rate set by the CRA, and send that. You keep the difference in place of ITCs on everyday purchases. You can still claim ITCs on capital purchases such as vehicles and equipment.
- You qualify if your taxable revenue, including GST/HST, is not more than $400,000, and you have been in business for the past year. Accountants, bookkeepers and lawyers cannot use it.
- You get a 1% credit on the first $30,000 of eligible revenue each fiscal year.
- You elect it in My Business Account or with Form GST74, and you stay in it for at least one year.
Example: an electrician in Calgary
These are example numbers. The business provides services, has its shop in Alberta, and all its work is in Alberta, so the remittance rate is 3.6%.
- Work billed in the year: $120,000. GST charged at 5%: $6,000. Total: $126,000.
- $126,000 times 3.6%: $4,536.
- Less 1% of the first $30,000: $300.
- Quick method remittance: $4,236.
Under the regular method, the electrician would remit $6,000 minus ITCs. If the GST paid on everyday expenses for the year is under $1,764, the quick method sends less. If it is more, the regular method does. A shop that buys a lot of materials should also read about the separate rate for businesses that purchase goods for resale, and whether its materials count, with an accountant.
