GST and HST on Canadian Invoices: A 2026 Guide

How GST, HST, and provincial taxes fit together

Canadian indirect tax is a layered system. The federal layer is the Goods and Services Tax (GST) — a 5% value-added tax administered by CRA. Five provinces have merged their provincial sales tax with GST into a single federally-administered Harmonized Sales Tax (HST), with one rate that bundles both portions. The remaining provinces and territories run their own provincial layer separately, while still charging the federal 5% GST.

That's the high-level map. The practical map looks like this (rates as of mid-2026; always confirm with the provincial finance ministry):

HST provinces (single rate, federally administered):

• Ontario: 13% (5% federal + 8% provincial)
• New Brunswick: 15% (5% + 10%)
• Newfoundland and Labrador: 15% (5% + 10%)
• Nova Scotia: 14% (5% + 9%, reduced from 15% effective April 1, 2025)
• Prince Edward Island, 15% (5% + 10%)

GST + separate provincial sales tax:

• British Columbia, 5% GST + 7% PST = 12% combined (PST administered by BC Ministry of Finance)
• Saskatchewan, 5% GST + 6% PST = 11% combined
• Manitoba, 5% GST + 7% Retail Sales Tax = 12% combined
• Quebec, 5% GST + 9.975% QST = 14.975% combined (QST administered by Revenu Québec)

GST only:

• Alberta: 5% GST
• Yukon: 5% GST
• Northwest Territories: 5% GST
• Nunavut: 5% GST

If your business operates in more than one province, you'll be applying multiple rates: sometimes on the same invoice, if the line items are sourced to different places.

When you have to register

The trigger is the $30,000 small-supplier threshold. You must register for GST/HST if either:

1. Your taxable revenue (worldwide, from your business plus any associated businesses) exceeds $30,000 in any single calendar quarter. You stop being a small supplier the day you exceed — you must register and start charging tax on the very next sale.
2. Your taxable revenue exceeds $30,000 over four consecutive calendar quarters. You stop being a small supplier at the end of the month following the quarter you crossed in; you then have one more month before you must register and start charging.

Two notes worth keeping in mind:

• The threshold is gross taxable revenue, not profit. A freelancer billing $32,000 a year has crossed it even with $25,000 in expenses.
• Taxi drivers, limousine drivers, and ride-share drivers must register from their first dollar; there is no small-supplier exemption for those services.

Below the threshold, voluntary registration is an option. Most small businesses with material business expenses choose it, because registration allows you to claim Input Tax Credits (ITCs) for the GST/HST you pay on business inputs. If you spend $20,000 a year on business inputs and pay roughly 13% HST on average ($2,600), registering lets you recover that $2,600. The administrative cost of filing GST/HST returns — one form per period — is far less than that.

Quebec works similarly but in parallel: register for QST with Revenu Québec separately. The thresholds and small-supplier rules are functionally the same.

Place-of-supply rules: which province's rate to charge

If you only operate in one province, this is easy: charge that province's combined rate (GST+HST or GST+PST/RST/QST as applicable) on every domestic sale. The place-of-supply rules matter when you sell across provinces.

The general structure (CRA's detailed rules are at the source link above):

• Tangible personal property (goods): rate of the province where the goods are delivered.
• Real property: rate of the province where the real property is located.
• Services in general: rate of the province where the customer's home or business address is, as ordinarily known to the supplier.
• Personal services (haircuts, training, in-person consulting): rate of the province where the service is performed.
• Freight transportation: rate of the origin province for inter-provincial freight.
• Telecommunications: specific rules; generally the rate associated with the receiving address.
• Digital products and services to Canadian consumers: address-based, generally the customer's home address.

For a consultant in Vancouver invoicing a client in Toronto for remote work, the rate is Ontario HST 13%, the customer's address governs. If the same consultant invoices a client in Vancouver, it's GST 5% + BC PST 7%. The bill is two separate tax lines, because BC PST is administered separately from GST.

What a CRA-compliant invoice has to include

CRA's documentary requirements for the buyer to claim an Input Tax Credit (ITC) are tiered by invoice value. Most B2B invoices clear the $150 line, so use the highest tier that applies:

Less than $30 (e.g., taxi receipts): supplier name, invoice date, total amount paid.

$30 to $149.99: all of the above, plus the supplier's GST/HST registration number and either the GST/HST amount or a statement that the price includes tax at a stated rate.

$150 or more: all of the above, plus the buyer's name or trading name, terms of payment, and a description of the goods or services. For HST provinces, break out the federal and provincial portions if the buyer requests it.

In Quebec, add the QST registration number and the QST amount or rate.

A clean Canadian invoice for a $5,000 service to an Ontario customer looks like:

Invoice INV-2026-203
Issue date: July 9, 2026: Due: August 8, 2026 (Net 30)

Studio Lumen Inc, 88 Main St, Toronto, ON M5A 1A1
GST/HST registration: 12345 6789 RT0001

Bill to: ClientCorp Ltd, 200 Bay St, Toronto, ON M5J 2J1

Brand identity design                   $5,000.00
                          Subtotal      $5,000.00
HST (ON, 13%)                              650.00
                          Total         $5,650.00

Payment terms: Net 30

For a buyer in Saskatchewan, the same line items would show GST 5% ($250) and Saskatchewan PST 6% ($300) on separate lines, with PST shown as a non-recoverable provincial tax.

Zero-rated and exempt supplies

Three categories worth knowing:

• Taxable supply: GST/HST applies at the standard rate.
• Zero-rated supply: GST/HST applies at 0%. You don't charge tax, but you can still claim ITCs on inputs.
• Exempt supply: outside the GST/HST system entirely. You don't charge tax, and you cannot claim ITCs on inputs.

The most commonly relevant zero-rated supplies:

• Exports of goods or services consumed outside Canada (most B2B exports to the US, UK, EU)
• Basic groceries
• Prescription drugs, medical devices
• Agricultural and fishing products
• Most freight transportation services that cross the Canadian border

Exempt supplies include most healthcare services, residential rent, financial services, day care, and educational services. If your business is primarily exempt-supply (for example, a daycare), you typically don't register for GST/HST at all and can't recover the tax on your inputs.

When invoicing zero-rated exports, mark the line "GST/HST 0%, zero-rated export" rather than skipping the tax line. The note tells the buyer (and any auditor) why no tax was charged.

Cross-border invoicing

Two cases:

Selling to US or international customers: Most exports of goods or services are zero-rated. You do not charge GST/HST. The invoice should still show that GST/HST is at 0% and reference the zero-rating provision. Note that if the customer is a Canadian resident receiving services consumed in Canada, even if billed through a US entity, the supply is taxable.

Buying from US or international suppliers: As a registrant you generally self-assess GST/HST on imported services and intangibles ("imported taxable supplies") via your GST/HST return; this is the equivalent of US use tax. For physical imports, GST/HST is charged at the border by CBSA on the duty-paid value.

Filing GST/HST returns

CRA assigns a filing frequency based on your annual revenue:

• Annual filer: revenue under $1.5 million.
• Quarterly filer: revenue $1.5 million to $6 million.
• Monthly filer: revenue over $6 million.

Annual filers may also have to make quarterly instalment payments if their net tax for the previous year was $3,000 or more. The instalment math is mechanical: one quarter of the previous year's net tax, paid each quarter.

Filing is online via CRA's My Business Account. The return is essentially: total taxable revenue (Line 101), GST/HST collected (Line 103), ITCs claimed (Line 108), net tax owing (Line 113). Quebec QST is filed separately with Revenu Québec on a similar schedule.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Forgetting to register after crossing the $30,000 threshold. Penalties accrue from the day you should have registered, plus interest on uncollected tax.
• Charging the wrong province's rate. Default to the customer's province for services; the goods-delivery province for tangible goods.
• Not separately stating tax on invoices. "Total includes tax" is acceptable under $30, but not for $30+. The buyer needs to see the rate and amount to claim ITCs.
• Treating zero-rated and exempt as the same. They're different: zero-rated lets you recover ITCs on inputs; exempt doesn't. The accounting impact is real.
• Missing the GST/HST registration number on the invoice. This is the field auditors check first, and without it the buyer cannot claim an ITC.
• Using your old NS HST rate. Nova Scotia's HST dropped from 15% to 14% on April 1, 2025. Templates not updated since 2024 will be wrong.

A 7-line Canadian-invoice checklist

• Your GST/HST registration number on the invoice
• Buyer's name and address (for invoices $150+)
• Correct rate for the buyer's province per place-of-supply rules
• HST shown as a single combined line in HST provinces; GST + PST/RST/QST shown separately in non-HST provinces
• Currency clearly identified (CAD vs USD)
• Zero-rated supplies marked with the zero-rating note
• QST registration number for any Quebec invoices

Ready to invoice from Canada?

Issueable's Canadian invoice generator handles GST, HST, PST/RST, and QST line items with provincial rate presets, and exports a clean PDF with the registration-number and tax-breakdown fields CRA expects. Create an invoice.