Updated Checked by the Tax-Services.ca editorial team How we check
Charging for virtual events can trigger two separate tax questions: GST/HST on the tickets, and income tax on what’s left after costs. The GST/HST question has a clear starting line. You must register once your taxable sales pass $30,000 in one calendar quarter or over the last four in a row.
Do virtual events need GST/HST?
That depends first on how much you sell. The CRA calls a business under the $30,000 line a small supplier, and small suppliers don’t have to register or charge the tax. A calendar quarter is three months starting on 1 January, 1 April, 1 July or 1 October.
If one quarter alone goes over $30,000, you charge the tax from that sale on. If it takes several quarters to get there, you register by the end of the month after the quarter that pushed you over. Once you have an effective date, you have 29 days to complete the registration.
Now the awkward part. The CRA page on conventions and admissions that we read doesn’t say how an online admission is treated. So for a paid livestream, workshop or webinar we can’t give you a rule for which province’s rate applies or whether an attendee outside Canada pays it. Ask the CRA before you sell tickets to buyers in several provinces.
| Test | Threshold | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| One calendar quarter | Over $30,000 in sales | Charge GST/HST from that sale |
| Four calendar quarters in a row | Over $30,000 in total | Register by the end of the month after the quarter |
| After the effective date | 29 days | Finish registration |
What does a $10,000 event look like?
Say you run a paid online workshop in Ontario. You sell 200 tickets at $50, which is $10,000, and spend $4,000 on the platform, a moderator and promotion. You’re far under $30,000, so you’re not required to register. If you did charge 13% HST, it’d be $1,300 on the tickets, for a total of $11,300, as the GST and HST calculator shows.
The income side is a separate matter. Revenue less costs leaves $6,000 of net business income. Put that on top of a $60,000 job in Ontario and combined federal and Ontario income tax rises from $8,320.50 to $10,024.41. That’s $1,703.91 more. It’s a rough figure, since CPP on business income isn’t counted in it. The self-employed tax calculator covers the contribution side.
Nice, but is it worth the effort? After costs you keep $6,000 before tax, and the extra tax takes a ballpark $1,700 of it. That’s still a decent side project, and it’s worth knowing the number before you spend a weekend on slides.
What should you do before selling the first ticket?
Think of Marcus in Halifax, who plans a paid online course for home bakers. Before he opens ticket sales, he does four small things. He starts a running total of every event sale, by quarter, so the $30,000 test is never a guess. He keeps a separate line for refunds. He saves every invoice for the platform and ads. And he checks the CRA’s registration page if he expects buyers from other provinces or other countries.
None of it takes long. All of it is far harder to rebuild after the fact.
Can you get the GST/HST on your costs back?
Only if you’re a registrant. The CRA lets a registrant claim input tax credits for the GST/HST paid on purchases used in its commercial activities. You need to be registered in the period the tax was paid, keep proper documents before you claim, and claim on time. The expense also has to be reasonable for the business.
So on that $4,000 of costs, 13% HST would be $520. A registrant could claim it. An unregistered small supplier can’t. That’s the trade to weigh if your costs are large and your sales are small. We haven’t confirmed here whether voluntary registration suits your case, so read the CRA’s registration page.
What about payroll and contractors?
Paying a moderator or presenter raises its own questions: whether they’re an employee or a contractor, and whether deductions apply. We couldn’t confirm the tests on an official page for this write-up, so we leave them out. If you pay people regularly, the payroll remittance calculator shows what an employer sends the CRA for each pay period.
Where do people slip up?
Forgetting to count all the quarters. Sales from every earlier event count toward the $30,000, so add them all up. Reporting refunded tickets as income. Skipping receipts for platform fees and ad spend, then having nothing to show if the CRA asks.
Another slip is assuming instalments don’t apply. If your net tax owing gets above $3,000 for the year and in one of the last two, the CRA expects instalments, and the tax instalments calculator splits the bill into four payments.
Sources, and how we checked them
The $30,000 small supplier limit, the quarter tests, the 29 days and the input tax credit conditions come from Canada Revenue Agency pages on GST/HST registration, read in 2026. The convention and admissions page was also read and doesn’t address online events. Tax figures in the examples are 2026 estimates from our calculators. We’re an independent site, and no government body is behind it.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to register for GST/HST for a virtual event?
Only if your taxable sales pass $30,000 in one calendar quarter or over four quarters in a row. Below that you're a small supplier and don't have to register.
Can I claim GST/HST on my event costs?
Only if you're a GST/HST registrant. The CRA lets registrants claim input tax credits on purchases used in their business, with documents and a timely claim.
Is income from a paid webinar taxable?
Yes. Revenue minus your business costs is business income, and you report it on your return with your other income.
Do attendees outside Canada pay GST/HST?
We couldn't confirm this. The CRA page we read doesn't address online admissions, so ask the CRA before selling across borders.
When do I pay instalments?
When your net tax owing is over $3,000 this year and was in at least one of the last two. The dates are 15 March, 15 June, 15 September and 15 December.
- How Canadian income tax works: brackets and credits
How federal and provincial Canadian income tax stack up, what marginal and average rates mean, and how credits and deductions change your bill