How to Calculate GST/HST on Canadian Invoices

The Short Answer

To put GST/HST on an invoice, calculate the tax on your pre-tax subtotal using the rate for the province where the customer receives the goods or service, show that tax as its own line (or lines) below the subtotal along with your GST/HST registration number, then add tax and subtotal together for the amount due. In HST provinces that's one combined tax line. In British Columbia, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan, GST and PST are shown as two separate lines because PST is not recoverable. In Quebec, GST and QST are also shown separately, but QST — unlike PST — is recoverable by the client as an input tax refund.

Want to skip the manual math? Run any amount through the Canadian GST/HST Calculator for any province, or use the reverse GST/HST calculator to extract the tax already baked into a total. This guide walks through the reasoning so you understand exactly what the calculator is doing and can build a correct invoice template yourself.

What Must Legally Appear on a GST/HST Invoice

Once you're registered for GST/HST, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has specific documentary requirements for every invoice on which you charge tax. The requirements scale with the size of the sale.

• Your GST/HST registration number. This is mandatory on every invoice once you're registered — it's how your client proves the tax they paid is a legitimate input tax credit (ITC).
• Supplier name (your business or trading name) and the invoice date.
• A description of the goods or services sold, in enough detail to identify what was purchased.
• The pre-tax amount, the tax amount (and rate applied), and the total amount charged.
• For total sales over $150, CRA requires additional detail: the customer's name (or business name), the payment terms, and — when more than one tax rate applies (as with GST+PST or GST+QST) — either the total tax amount stated clearly or each rate broken out so the buyer can see exactly what was charged on each.

A simple, compliant format is: subtotal → tax line(s) → total, with your GST/HST number printed near your business details at the top or bottom of the invoice.

How to Calculate GST/HST, Step by Step

1. Total up the pre-tax value of everything you're billing (services, products, and any taxable reimbursed expenses).
2. Identify the tax rate that applies — based on the province where the customer receives the supply (see the rate table below).
3. Multiply the pre-tax subtotal by that rate to get the tax amount.
4. List the tax as its own line item, labeled clearly (HST, or GST and PST/QST separately where applicable).
5. Add the tax to the subtotal for the total amount due.

2026 GST/HST/PST/QST Rates by Province

Combined sales tax rates range from 5% (GST-only provinces and territories) up to 15% in the highest-taxed HST provinces (CRA — which rate to charge):

HST Provinces: One Combined Tax Line

Ontario, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Prince Edward Island have harmonized their provincial sales tax with the federal GST into a single Harmonized Sales Tax (HST). Because it's already one tax administratively, your invoice only needs one tax line — you don't split it into a federal and provincial portion.

GST + PST Provinces (BC, Manitoba, Saskatchewan): Two Separate Lines

British Columbia, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan never harmonized — they still run federal GST alongside their own retail-style Provincial Sales Tax (PST, called RST in Manitoba). These are two legally distinct taxes with different rules, so they must always be itemized on separate lines, each calculated on the same pre-tax subtotal.

This distinction matters for your client's bookkeeping: PST is not a value-added tax and, unlike GST, is generally not recoverable as an input tax credit for a registered business. Bundling GST and PST into one line would make it impossible for your client to correctly claim the GST portion back.

Quebec: GST and QST Shown Separately (Both Recoverable)

Quebec also keeps its provincial tax separate from GST on paper, so an invoice shows GST (5%) and Quebec Sales Tax, QST (9.975%), as two lines — both calculated on the pre-tax subtotal. Unlike BC/MB/SK's PST, QST behaves like a value-added tax: registered businesses can claim it back as an input tax refund (ITR), the Quebec equivalent of an ITC, administered by Revenu Québec.

The $30,000 Small-Supplier Threshold

You are only permitted to charge GST/HST once you are actually registered. Registration becomes mandatory once your worldwide taxable revenue exceeds $30,000 over four consecutive calendar quarters (the "small-supplier" threshold) — below that, you're a small supplier and simply don't charge tax at all. Many freelancers and contractors register voluntarily before hitting the threshold so they can start claiming input tax credits on their own business expenses right away. Either way, the moment your registration is active and you have a GST/HST number, every taxable invoice you issue must include tax and that number.

Which Rate Do You Charge — Yours or the Customer's?

GST/HST is generally a destination-based tax (CRA): for most goods and many services, you charge the rate of the province where the customer takes delivery or receives the supply — the "place of supply" — not necessarily the rate where your business is registered or located. If your business operates out of Alberta (5% GST) but you ship a product to a customer in Ontario, you charge 13% Ontario HST on that invoice, because the supply is deemed to occur in Ontario. This is why the same freelancer or shop can legitimately issue invoices at different rates depending on where each individual customer is based — always check the destination before applying a rate, rather than defaulting to your own province's rate out of habit.

How Input Tax Credits Keep the Client Whole

A registered business client isn't really out-of-pocket for the GST/HST (or QST) you charge them. They pay it to you on the invoice, then claim it back from the CRA (or Revenu Québec) as an input tax credit when they file their own return, effectively netting it against the tax they collected from their own customers. This is why it's essential that your invoice clearly separates the tax from the subtotal and includes your GST/HST number — without both, your client's ITC claim can be challenged. The one exception worth remembering is PST in BC, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan: because it isn't a value-added tax, it is not creditable the same way, so it is a genuine added cost for the paying business — another reason it must always sit on its own line.

Full Worked Invoice Example

Here's how it comes together on a complete invoice for a web design contractor, GST/HST registered, billing a client in Ontario:

Notice the reimbursed expense (stock photography) is folded into the taxable subtotal before tax is calculated, and the GST/HST registration number is printed directly beside the tax line so the client can immediately verify their input tax credit documentation.

Related Tools

Last updated: May 15, 2026 · Rate source metadata is tracked in the TaxesLedger tax data registry.

Data methodology reviewed by M. Imtinan Farooq — Data Engineer focused on financial data systems.

Imtinan specializes in financial data systems and multi-state US sales tax modeling. With hands-on experience building data pipelines that attach source metadata, confidence labels, and verification status to tax records, he helps keep TaxesLedger rates auditable and easier to refresh. Connect with him on LinkedIn. This is an educational calculator, not tax, accounting, or legal advice.

Data Sources: State DORs · Canada Revenue Agency · EU VAT authorities · Tax Foundation references