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You need an HST account once your taxable sales pass $30,000 across four calendar quarters in a row, or in any single quarter. Before that you’re a small supplier and don’t have to register. After it, you charge the tax, file returns and send the CRA the difference between what you collected and what you paid.
People call it an “HST account”, but the CRA’s version is a GST/HST account. It covers the 5% GST in Alberta or BC and the combined HST in Ontario and the Atlantic provinces. So one account, and the rate on each sale depends on where the sale is made.
Do you have to open an HST account?
You must if two things are true: you’re not a small supplier, and you make taxable sales in Canada. The small supplier line for most businesses is $30,000, and the CRA’s guide for GST/HST registrants applies it two ways: in any single calendar quarter, and over the last four consecutive calendar quarters. A calendar quarter is three months starting 1 January, 1 April, 1 July or 1 October.
Note that the test looks at calendar quarters, not your fiscal year. Sales can cross the line in the middle of a year, and the CRA gives you 29 days from the sale that took you over to register. Don’t leave it.
Charities and public service bodies have their own thresholds, so this page covers ordinary businesses and self-employed people. If you earn a side income, the self-employed tax calculator shows the income tax side, which is a separate matter from the HST account.
How do you actually get an account?
You register with the CRA. Every business has a nine-digit business number, and the GST/HST account is that number plus two letters, RT, and a four-digit reference such as 0001. If you’ve never had a business number, getting one comes first, and the CRA’s registration pages walk you through it.
Once the account exists, that nine-digit number goes on your invoices. Customers who claim input tax credits will look for it, and some will check it in the CRA’s registry before they pay you.
Why would you register before you have to?
Small suppliers can register voluntarily if they make taxable sales. The reason is input tax credits. Once you’re registered, the tax you pay on business costs can come back to you, but only if you’re registered and you hold the paperwork.
The price is admin. You must charge tax on your sales, which can make you look dearer next to an unregistered competitor, and you must file even on quiet periods. It’s a fair trade if your costs are large, such as equipment, and a hassle if your costs are small.
Take Amira, a freelance web designer in Halifax who earns $22,000 a year but just bought a $6,000 computer setup. Registering voluntarily lets her recover the HST she paid on it, and in return she has to charge her clients HST and file returns. For a one-off big purchase that can be worth it. For someone with almost no costs, it usually isn’t.
How does the account work in practice?
Here’s a worked example with Ontario numbers. You sell $50,000 of services before tax. At 13% HST you’ve charged $6,500. During the same period you bought $8,000 of business supplies before tax and paid $1,040 of HST on them.
| Item | Ontario, 13% | New Brunswick, 15% |
|---|---|---|
| HST collected on $50,000 of sales | $6,500 | $7,500 |
| HST paid on $8,000 of costs (input tax credit) | $1,040 | $1,200 |
| Sent to the CRA | $5,460 | $6,300 |
That $5,460 isn’t yours to spend. It’s collected on the government’s behalf, and the quickest way to get in trouble is treating it as revenue. Park it in a separate savings account. You can check your own rate in the GST and HST calculator, and work backward from a tax-inclusive invoice in the reverse HST calculator.
How often do you file an HST return?
The CRA sets your reporting period from your yearly taxable sales. Based on its published guidance, $1,500,000 or less gives an annual period, above that up to $6,000,000 gives a quarterly period, and above that a monthly one. You may choose to file more often than assigned, which brings refunds sooner if your credits are bigger than the tax you charge.
For monthly and quarterly filers, the return and payment are due one month after the period ends. Annual due dates depend on your fiscal year end. We haven’t listed specific 2026 calendar dates because we couldn’t confirm them on a CRA page, so check your account or the CRA page for yours.
What goes wrong with HST accounts?
A few errors come up again and again.
- Claiming input tax credits without an invoice or receipt. The CRA expects supporting records, and they should be kept for six years.
- Waiting too long. For most registrants the claim window is about four years from the period the credit first applied.
- Mixing personal and business purchases. Only the business share counts.
- Forgetting payroll. Payroll deductions are a separate remittance from your HST return, and the payroll remittance calculator covers those.
Penalties and interest for late filing exist, but we haven’t confirmed the current rates, so we won’t quote them. If you’ve missed a deadline, file anyway and file soon, since the amount owed only grows.
For a wider view of how the three sales taxes fit together, our guide to GST, HST and PST is a good next stop.
Where the numbers come from
The $30,000 threshold, the 29 day registration window and the single quarter test come from the CRA’s guide for GST/HST registrants. Voluntary registration, the filing frequency bands, the input tax credit time limit and the record rules come from Canada Revenue Agency pages on when to register and on input tax credits, read in September 2026. The HST rates are the CRA’s published 13% for Ontario and 15% for the other HST provinces except Nova Scotia.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need an HST account if I earn less than $30,000?
Not by law, since you're a small supplier. You can still register voluntarily if you make taxable sales.
Is an HST account the same as a GST account?
The CRA runs one GST/HST account. The rate on each sale depends on the province where the sale is made.
How often do I file?
The CRA assigns annual, quarterly or monthly periods from your yearly taxable sales. You can choose a more frequent one.
What are input tax credits?
They are the HST or GST you paid on business costs, which you can subtract from the tax you collected if you hold proper records.
How long do I have to claim input tax credits?
For most registrants about four years from the period the credit first applied. Keep supporting records for six years.
- GST, HST, PST and QST explained for every province
Which GST, HST, PST or QST applies where you shop or sell in Canada, the 2026 rates for every province, who must register and how to add or remove tax