Do I need to register for GST/HST?
Yan Zhou (周艳) · Licensed Life & Health Insurance Agent, Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA)
The short version
- The threshold is $30,000 of taxable sales, measured on a rolling four-quarter basis.
- A single quarter above $30,000 also puts you over. Most people only watch the annual figure.
- Once you cross it you have 29 days to register.
- You can register voluntarily below the threshold, and claim back the tax you pay on business costs.
If something here applies to you, just ask me. Plain answers, no sales pitch.
(General tax information only. It is not tax advice. Circumstances differ — check the CRA website or speak to a qualified accountant before you act.)
Where is the line?
$30,000. Below it you are a “small supplier” and registration is optional.
It is measured on worldwide taxable supplies, and it includes associated persons.
There are two tests, and whichever happens first is the one that counts.
- Any single calendar quarter over $30,000 on its own.
- Four consecutive calendar quarters over $30,000 in total.
One unusually good quarter can put you over even if the year looks modest.
Source: CRA, “When to register for and start charging the GST/HST”, checked 11 August 2026.
How long do you have?
CRA’s wording: “You have to register within 29 days after you make a sale other than as a small supplier.”
And on when you start charging: “You start charging the GST/HST at the beginning of the month after you are no longer a small supplier.”
If you cross the line and do not charge the tax, you still owe it. It comes out of your own pocket.
Should you register before you have to?
It depends who your customers are.
Selling to businesses? They claim the tax back, so charging it costs them nothing. Meanwhile you recover the tax on your own expenses. That is usually worth doing.
Selling to consumers? The tax makes you more expensive, full stop. Think about the price before you register.
Either way registration is a standing obligation. You file every period, including nil returns in quiet quarters.
Exceptions worth knowing
- Taxi and commercial rideshare drivers register from the first fare, whatever they earn.
- If everything you supply is exempt, you generally cannot register at all.
- Charities and public institutions are measured against different thresholds, not $30,000.
Selling online adds one more wrinkle: the rate follows the buyer’s province. Ontario buyers pay HST, Alberta buyers pay GST only.
If something here applies to you, just ask me. Plain answers, no sales pitch.
(General tax information only. It is not tax advice. Circumstances differ — check the CRA website or speak to a qualified accountant before you act.)
