How to file GST/HST quarterly in Canada — and what you need on hand when you do
If you're a sole proprietor registered for GST/HST, the return is mostly bookkeeping. The filing itself takes minutes; the hours go into having the numbers. Here's what each line actually comes from.
The two numbers that decide everything
Every GST/HST return is a subtraction: tax you collected on sales minus tax you paid on business purchases. The difference is what you remit, or what the CRA refunds you. Everything else — the boxes, the schedules, the software — exists to get those two figures right.
Tax you collected
On each invoice, the tax is a separate amount held for the CRA; it is not your revenue. The rate depends on the place of supply: 5% GST in Alberta and the territories, 13% HST in Ontario, 15% in the Maritimes. Some supplies are zero-rated and some are exempt — those lines carry no tax, and for zero-rated sales you still report the sale.
Tax you paid (input tax credits)
Tax you paid on business purchases is recoverable as an input tax credit, and it reduces what you owe. Two things bite people here: you need the receipt to support it, and for mixed personal/business use — a phone, a vehicle, part of a home — only the business share is claimable. Meals are commonly limited to 50%.
Records that keep a filing clean
- Sales listed by date with the tax split out from the revenue
- Purchases listed by date with the tax you paid, and a category
- Business kilometres, if you use a vehicle
- Receipts, kept six years — the list is your summary, the receipts are the evidence
Filing dates, plainly
Quarterly filers report within one month of the quarter's end. Annual filers have three months after year end, with instalments in some cases. Rates and dates change; confirm the current ones for your filing year on the CRA's GST/HST pages, and keep the CRA business enquiries line handy: 1-800-959-5525.
The part that takes the time
Not the form — the compiling. Every quarter, the same job: gather the sales, split the tax, total the credits, work out the vehicle share.
A spreadsheet does that once and repeats it every quarter: income and expenses logged with the tax split automatically, input tax credits totalled, mileage at the CRA per-kilometre rate, and a quarterly summary that tells you the amount owed or refundable before you open the CRA site.
GST/HST, Expense & Mileage Tracker — US$19
Instant download, .xlsx, works in Excel, Google Sheets and Numbers. If it doesn't fit how you file, reply to your receipt and I'll refund it. Not tax advice — for that, ask an accountant or the CRA.
Who has to register at all
Registration is generally required once your taxable supplies pass the small-supplier threshold over four consecutive quarters; below it, you can register voluntarily. If you're not registered, don't charge GST/HST and don't show it as tax on your invoices.