GST/HST Registration in Canada: When You Must Register and How

You must register for GST/HST once your business revenue hits $30,000. That’s the short answer. But the details around timing, rates, and input tax credits can save you real money — or cost you if you get them wrong.

Here’s how the system works for the 2025 tax year.

The $30,000 Threshold

If your total revenue from taxable supplies exceeds $30,000 in any four consecutive calendar quarters — or in a single calendar quarter — you’re required to register for a GST/HST account. You have 29 days from the date you exceed the threshold to get registered.

This applies to freelancers, sole proprietors, partnerships, and corporations alike. The CRA doesn’t care about your business structure. Revenue is revenue.

Below $30,000? Registration is voluntary. But voluntary doesn’t mean pointless — more on that below.

One major exception: if you drive for Uber, Lyft, or any other ride-sharing platform, you must register for GST/HST regardless of how much you earn. The CRA considers ride-sharing a “taxable supply” with no small supplier exemption. Even if you made $4,000 last year driving weekends, you need a GST/HST number.

Estimate your self-employed taxes —>

What Rate Do You Charge?

The rate depends on your province and the type of tax:

• Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and the territories: 5% GST
• Ontario: 13% HST
• Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, PEI: 15% HST
• Quebec: 5% GST plus 9.975% QST — but QST is handled separately through Revenu Quebec, which means a separate registration process

If you’re in Quebec, you’re effectively dealing with two tax agencies. You register for GST with the CRA and for QST with Revenu Quebec. It’s more paperwork, but the mechanics are similar.

The rate you charge is generally based on where the supply is made (where your customer is), not where you’re located. For most service-based businesses operating within a single province, this is straightforward. Cross-provincial sales and digital products get more complicated — if that applies to you, it’s worth talking to an accountant.

Input Tax Credits: Getting Money Back

This is the part that makes voluntary registration worth considering even if you’re under $30,000.

When you’re registered, you can claim Input Tax Credits (ITCs) — the GST/HST you paid on business purchases. Office supplies, software subscriptions, equipment, professional services, co-working space fees. If you paid GST/HST on it and it’s a legitimate business expense, you can claim it back.

Your net tax works like this:

Net tax = GST/HST collected from clients - ITCs on business expenses

If you charged clients $2,500 in GST over the year and paid $900 in GST on business expenses, you owe the CRA $1,600. If your ITCs exceed what you collected (common in early years when you’re buying equipment), the CRA sends you a refund.

For freelancers with significant startup costs or ongoing expenses, registering voluntarily can put money back in your pocket. The trade-off is the administrative work of filing returns and charging your clients tax. If your clients are mostly businesses, they won’t mind — they claim their own ITCs on what you charge them. If your clients are individual consumers, adding 13% to your invoices might feel like a harder sell.

The Quick Method: Simplified Accounting

Tracking every ITC on every receipt isn’t for everyone. The Quick Method lets you skip that.

Instead of calculating GST/HST collected minus ITCs, you remit a reduced percentage of your revenue (including the tax collected) and keep the difference. The exact rate depends on your province and whether you sell goods or services. For most service-based businesses in Ontario, the remittance rate is around 8.8% of revenue including HST.

The Quick Method is available if your annual revenue (including GST/HST) is under $400,000. It works best for businesses with relatively low expenses, since you’re giving up the ability to claim ITCs on most purchases (you can still claim ITCs on capital equipment purchases over $30,000).

You need to elect into the Quick Method — it’s not automatic. File Form GST74 with the CRA.

How to Register

Three options:

1. Online through CRA My Business Account — the fastest route if you already have a CRA business account. You can register for GST/HST in about 15 minutes.
2. By phone — call the CRA business enquiries line at 1-800-959-5525.
3. By mail — submit Form RC1, Request for a Business Number. This takes the longest.

If you don’t already have a Business Number (BN), you’ll get one as part of the registration process. Your GST/HST account number will be your BN followed by “RT0001.”

Filing Frequency

How often you file depends on your annual revenue:

• Under $1.5 million: you can file annually (though you may choose quarterly)
• $1.5 million to $6 million: quarterly filing required
• Over $6 million: monthly filing required

Most freelancers and small businesses file annually. The return is due three months after your fiscal year-end. If your fiscal year-end is December 31, your GST/HST return is due March 31.

Annual filing is simpler, but it also means writing one large cheque instead of spreading payments across the year. Some business owners prefer quarterly filing just for cash-flow purposes.

Calculate your total self-employment tax burden —>

Common Mistakes

Waiting too long to register. If you crossed $30,000 in August and didn’t register until January, you’re on the hook for the GST/HST you should have been collecting since August. The CRA can assess you for that uncollected tax.

Not charging tax on invoices. Once registered, you must charge GST/HST on all taxable supplies. You can’t absorb it yourself or quietly skip it for certain clients.

Mixing personal and business purchases for ITCs. That new laptop you claim ITCs on needs to actually be used for business. If it’s 50% personal use, you can only claim 50% of the GST/HST paid.

Forgetting to file. Even if you owe nothing — say, your ITCs equal what you collected — you still need to file the return. Late-filing penalties apply even on nil returns.

If you’re self-employed and not sure where you stand with your overall tax obligations, run your numbers through our income tax calculator alongside your GST/HST planning. Knowing your income tax and CPP burden together with your GST/HST obligations gives you the full picture of what the government expects.

Related Guides

• Self-Employed Tax Guide Canada 2025 — CPP, deductions, and deadlines for freelancers and sole proprietors
• Gig Worker Taxes Canada 2025 — Platform reporting rules and what Uber, DoorDash, and Etsy workers need to know
• 2025 Tax Deadline Canada — April 30 payment deadline vs June 15 filing deadline