GST/HST for freelancers: register, charge, Quick Method
Three questions every Canadian freelancer asks in year one. Do I have to register, what do I put on this invoice, and is the Quick Method worth it.
Last updated 14 October 2026
When a freelancer has to register for GST/HST
You are a "small supplier" until your taxable sales pass $30,000 in four consecutive calendar quarters, or in any single quarter. Taxable sales means everything you bill, including work for clients outside Canada (zero-rated sales count toward the limit even though you charge 0% on them). The day you cross the line in a single quarter, you are registered from that sale on. If you cross it over four quarters, you have one month to register.
Below $30,000 you may register voluntarily. It is usually worth it if your clients are businesses (they get the tax back, so they do not care) and you have expenses with GST/HST on them (you get that back). It is usually not worth it if most clients are individuals.
Which tax to charge: the client's province decides
For services, the place of supply is normally the client's business address, so the rate follows the client, not you. A designer in Alberta billing a company in Toronto charges 13% HST. The same designer billing a company in Calgary charges 5% GST.
| Client in | You charge | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Alberta, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Yukon | GST | 5% |
| British Columbia | GST (PST 7% only on software, SaaS and telecom services) | 5% |
| Saskatchewan | GST (PST 6% only on listed services) | 5% |
| Manitoba | GST (RST 7% only on listed services, incl. software subscriptions from 2026) | 5% |
| Quebec | GST, plus QST if you are registered for QST (Quebec-based freelancers are) | 5% + 9.975% |
| Ontario | HST | 13% |
| Nova Scotia | HST (14% since April 1, 2025) | 14% |
| New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island | HST | 15% |
| Outside Canada, client is not a Canadian resident | Nothing: zero-rated export of services | 0% |
Sources: CRA, GST/HST rates by province; CRA RC4058 Quick Method of Accounting (rates in effect from April 1, 2025, used for 2026); Revenu Québec, QST. Checked October 2026.
The Quick Method, in one paragraph
Instead of tracking the tax on every expense, you keep a slice of the tax you collect and remit the rest at a flat rate. For a service business in a GST-only province billing GST-only clients the rate is 3.6% of your tax-included sales; an Ontario freelancer billing Ontario clients remits 8.8% instead of the 13% collected. On top of that you get a 1% credit on your first $30,000 of sales each year. You give up input tax credits on normal expenses (you still get them on capital purchases like a laptop). Available if your taxable sales are under $400,000 and you are not an accountant, bookkeeper, lawyer, actuary or financial consultant. You elect it on form GST74 and it must be in place at the start of your fiscal year.
Rule of thumb: if your expenses with GST/HST are under about 20% of your sales, the Quick Method wins. The calculator above does the exact comparison with CRA's rates.
Quick Method rates for services (RC4058)
| Client in | You are in a GST-only province | You are in Ontario | You are in Nova Scotia | You are in NB, NL or PEI |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GST-only province (5%) | 3.6% | 1.8% | 1.6% | 1.4% |
| Ontario (13%) | 10.5% | 8.8% | 8.6% | 8.4% |
| Nova Scotia (14%) | 11.3% | 9.6% | 9.4% | 9.2% |
| NB, NL, PEI (15%) | 12.0% | 10.4% | 10.2% | 10.0% |
Rates apply to sales including the tax. Zero-rated sales (foreign clients) are not in the calculation, and the 1% credit only applies to sales you charged tax on.
Filing and paying
- Under $1.5 million in sales you file once a year. You can choose quarterly if you prefer smaller payments.
- Annual filers whose net tax was $3,000 or more last year pay quarterly instalments. CRA sends the amounts.
- Keep the GST/HST you collect in a separate account from day one. It was never your money.
- Your invoices must show your business number (the one ending in RT0001), the tax charged by rate, and the client's name.
Questions people ask
Do I charge GST/HST to clients in the US or Europe?
No. Services to a client who is not resident in Canada are zero-rated: 0% on the invoice, and you still claim input tax credits on your expenses. Write "Zero-rated export of services" on the invoice and keep proof the client is abroad (their address and email domain are enough). Exceptions exist for services tied to real property in Canada or delivered to a person while they are in Canada.
I earn from Upwork. Do I register?
The $30,000 counts Upwork income too, even when the client is foreign. Once you pass it you must register, even if every sale is zero-rated and you never collect a dollar. The upside: once registered you get the GST/HST on your Canadian expenses back.
What is the difference between GST and HST?
Same federal tax, two shapes. In Ontario and the four Atlantic provinces the federal and provincial parts are merged into one Harmonized Sales Tax (13% to 15%), filed on one return. Everywhere else you charge 5% GST, and in Quebec, BC, Saskatchewan and Manitoba the province runs its own separate tax (QST, PST, RST), which mostly does not apply to freelance services.
Do I charge PST on design, writing or consulting in BC?
Usually not. BC's PST applies to goods, software and SaaS, telecom and a short list of services. Design, writing, marketing, consulting and most development work are not on it. If you sell software licences or a hosted app, PST applies and you register with the province separately.
I live in Quebec. What is different?
You register for GST and QST together with Revenu Québec, not CRA, and file one combined return. Clients in Quebec pay 5% GST plus 9.975% QST. Clients in other provinces pay GST or HST at their province's rate and no QST. The Quick Method exists for QST too, at its own rates.
Can I switch to the Quick Method mid-year?
No. The election takes effect at the start of a fiscal year (or the day you register, for a new registrant). File form GST74 before the due date of the first return it should apply to. Once elected, you stay on it at least a year.
What happens if I should have registered and did not?
CRA can assess the GST/HST you should have collected, from the date you crossed the threshold, plus interest. You usually cannot go back and charge old clients. Register the week you cross $30,000, not at tax time.
Keep going
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