GST/HST Registration in Canada: When You Must Register

Most Canadian sole proprietors and independent contractors start out as "small suppliers" and do not charge GST/HST. You have to register once you stop being a small supplier, and that happens when your worldwide taxable revenue passes $30,000. The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) measures that $30,000 two different ways, and each one sets a different date to start charging tax and a different deadline to register. This guide covers who must register, the two threshold tests with worked examples, who has to register from their first sale, when voluntary registration pays off, how to register, and how to confirm a supplier's number before you claim input tax credits.

What registering for GST/HST means

When you register, the CRA adds a GST/HST program account (the "RT" account) to your business number. From your effective date of registration you charge GST/HST on your taxable sales, file GST/HST returns on a schedule the CRA assigns, and remit the tax you collect. In exchange you can claim input tax credits to recover the GST/HST you pay on business purchases. Registration is a switch: before it you neither charge nor recover the tax; after it you do both.

The rate you charge depends on where the sale is made, not where you sit. GST is 5% in the non-participating provinces. The harmonized rate is 13% in Ontario, 15% in New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Prince Edward Island, and 14% in Nova Scotia since April 1, 2025. The CRA's place-of-supply rules decide which rate applies to each sale.

The $30,000 small supplier threshold

A small supplier is a business whose revenue from worldwide taxable supplies was $30,000 or less in a single calendar quarter and over the last four consecutive calendar quarters. While you stay under that figure, registration is optional. Cross it and registration becomes mandatory.

What counts toward the $30,000 is broader than many owners expect. You include the total revenue, before expenses, from your worldwide taxable supplies, and you add the revenue of anyone associated with you. Taxable supplies include zero-rated sales (goods and services taxed at 0%, such as basic groceries or exports), even though you charge no tax on them. Three things are left out of the count: the sale of business goodwill, supplies of financial services, and sales of capital property. The CRA sets out the definition and the exclusions on its small suppliers page.

Two points trip people up. The $30,000 is not a calendar-year figure, and it is not net profit. It is gross revenue measured on a rolling basis, which is why the timing tests below decide everything.

The two ways you stop being a small supplier

The CRA applies two separate tests, and you can trip either one. Each sets its own effective date (the day you must start charging tax) and its own deadline to register, drawn from the CRA's when to register guidance.

The single-quarter test. Priya, a consultant, is a small supplier through 2025. In the second quarter of 2026 she lands a large project and invoices $32,000 between April and June, crossing $30,000 on a May 20 invoice. She stopped being a small supplier on May 20. She has to charge GST/HST on that May 20 invoice and every sale after it, and she has until June 18 (29 days later) to register. There is no grace period on this test.

The four-quarter test. Marc's revenue climbs slowly: $9,000, then $8,000, then $7,000, then $8,000 across four consecutive quarters ending June 30, 2026. He never billed more than $9,000 in a single quarter, so the single-quarter test did not fire, but his four-quarter total is $32,000. Because he crossed the line over four quarters rather than in one, he stays a small supplier for the quarter he crossed in and for one more month. He stops being a small supplier on July 31, 2026. His effective date is his first sale in August, and he has 29 days from that sale to register. Treat that extra month as time to register and update your invoices, not as licence to keep billing tax-free.

Who has to register no matter what

Two groups skip the $30,000 test entirely. Taxi operators and self-employed commercial ride-share drivers (Uber, Lyft, and similar app-based services) must register for GST/HST from their first fare, whatever they earn. The rule for ride-sharing has applied since July 1, 2017, when the CRA folded app-based ride-sharing into the definition of a taxi business. Drive for a ride-share platform as a side gig earning $5,000 a year and you still have to register, charge GST/HST on your fares, and file returns. The CRA spells this out on its taxi and ride-sharing drivers page.

Non-residents who make taxable supplies in Canada face their own registration rules, which sit outside the scope of this guide for Canadian sole proprietors.

Should you register voluntarily?

If you are still a small supplier, you can register anyway. A small supplier engaged in a commercial activity in Canada may register voluntarily and take on all the obligations and entitlements of a registrant. Two reasons make it worthwhile:

• You recover the tax on your purchases. Once registered, you claim input tax credits on the GST/HST you pay for business costs: equipment, software, supplies, professional fees. A new business with heavy startup spending but little revenue often gets more back in credits than it collects.
• You look established. Some clients, larger companies especially, prefer to deal with registered suppliers, and a GST/HST number signals a real business.

The trade-off is real. You now charge tax on every sale, which can make you pricier to customers who cannot claim it back, you file returns on time, and you keep the records to back your credits. Voluntary registration usually takes effect on the date you ask for it, and the CRA can backdate it up to 30 days. Once you register voluntarily you generally have to stay registered for at least one year before you can cancel, so the CRA's voluntary registration page is worth reading before you commit.

How to register for a GST/HST account

You need a business number (BN) first; the GST/HST account attaches to it. The fastest route is Business Registration Online, which sets up the BN and the GST/HST account together and can add a payroll or import-export account in the same session. You can also register by phone with the CRA's business enquiries line, or by mailing or faxing Form RC1, Request for a Business Number and Certain Program Accounts.

Have four things ready before you start: your effective date of registration, your fiscal year-end, your estimated annual taxable revenue, and a short description of your main business activity. The CRA uses your revenue estimate to assign your reporting period.

How to confirm a supplier's GST/HST number

"GST/HST registration search" is a common query, and it points at a different task: checking that a supplier you paid is registered with the CRA. This matters because you can only claim an input tax credit for tax charged by a registered supplier. If a vendor puts a GST/HST number on an invoice but is not registered, the CRA can deny your credit.

The CRA runs a free GST/HST Registry for exactly this. Enter the first nine digits of the supplier's GST/HST number (no letters), the supplier's name, and the transaction date, and it confirms whether the number was registered on that date. Suppliers are required to show their GST/HST number on any invoice, receipt, or contract for a taxable sale of $100 or more, so the number should be there to check. On larger or unfamiliar purchases, save the search result with the receipt. Our guide to input tax credit documentation covers the receipt details the CRA expects behind every claim.

What changes once you are registered

Three things start the day your registration takes effect:

1. You charge and collect GST/HST on your taxable sales at the place-of-supply rate.
2. You file GST/HST returns. The CRA assigns a reporting period based on your annual taxable revenue: annual if you are at or under $1.5 million (with the option to elect quarterly or monthly), quarterly between $1.5 million and $6 million, and monthly above $6 million. Most sole proprietors file annually.
3. You claim input tax credits for the GST/HST on your business purchases and subtract them from the tax you collected. You remit the difference, or you claim a refund when your credits exceed your collections.

If your revenue is modest, check whether the Quick Method of accounting fits: it lets you remit a set percentage of your GST/HST-included sales instead of tracking every input tax credit. Whichever method you use, the return draws on the same records, your sales and the receipts behind your expenses. Keeping those sorted into CRA categories as you go turns filing from a scramble into a lookup.

Common registration mistakes

Waiting for a notice that never arrives. No one tells you to register. The CRA expects you to track your own revenue and register within 29 days of crossing the threshold. Miss it and you still owe the tax you should have charged, even if you never collected it from your customers.

Treating $30,000 as a calendar-year number. The threshold is a rolling four-quarter test, not a January-to-December one. A strong autumn can push a four-quarter total over $30,000 in the middle of the next year.

Forgetting associates and zero-rated sales. The $30,000 includes zero-rated revenue and the revenue of associated businesses. Leaving either out can hide the fact that you already crossed the line.

Charging tax before your effective date. You charge GST/HST from your effective date, not before, and only once you hold a valid registration. Collecting "GST" without one is not allowed.

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to register for GST/HST as a sole proprietor? Only once you stop being a small supplier, which happens when your worldwide taxable revenue passes $30,000 over a single calendar quarter or over four consecutive quarters. Below that, registration is optional, except for taxi and ride-share drivers, who must register from their first fare.

Is the $30,000 based on profit or revenue? Revenue. It is your gross taxable revenue before expenses, including zero-rated sales and the revenue of associated businesses, not your net profit.

What happens if I register late? Your effective date is still the day you crossed the threshold, so you owe the GST/HST you should have charged from that date, plus possible interest and penalties. You may end up paying tax you never collected from customers.

Can I get a GST/HST number without registering for the tax? The GST/HST account is the registration. What you may be thinking of is the business number (BN), which you can hold without a GST/HST account. The GST/HST account is one program account on that BN.

How do I check whether a supplier is registered? Use the CRA's free GST/HST Registry with the first nine digits of the supplier's number, their name, and the transaction date. Confirming the number protects your input tax credit claims.

Key takeaways

• You must register for GST/HST once you stop being a small supplier: when worldwide taxable revenue passes $30,000 in one calendar quarter or over four consecutive quarters.
• The single-quarter test has no grace period, and the effective date is the sale that crosses the line; the four-quarter test gives you until the end of the following month.
• Register within 29 days of your effective date, through Business Registration Online, by phone, or with Form RC1.
• Taxi and ride-share drivers must register from their first fare, whatever they earn.
• Voluntary registration lets you claim input tax credits on business purchases, at the cost of charging tax and filing returns.
• Confirm a supplier's number in the CRA's GST/HST Registry before you claim a credit against it.

Once you are registered, every return depends on clean records of the GST/HST you paid and collected. SparkReceipt reads the tax off each receipt automatically, sorts your expenses into CRA-ready categories, and keeps the image attached for the six years the CRA can ask to see it. Get Started with a free trial, or see how it captures GST/HST from every receipt.