Clear GST/HST and Québec GST/QST guides for freelancers.
Prepare for B.C.’s October 2026 PST changes for professional services, including architectural and AIBC phases, accounting, invoice setup, a six-platform software comparison, dedicated QuickBooks, Xero, FreshBooks, Wave, Zoho Books, and Sage 50 acceptance guides, separate PST lines, the 30% base, bookkeeping, payroll, tax returns, commercial real estate commissions, property management, security services, and alarm monitoring, apply Ontario’s C$30,000 threshold and 13% HST rate correctly, choose a candidate GST/HST rate for an out-of-province service client without defaulting to your own province, understand what may count, decide whether registration below C$30,000 is required or voluntary, distinguish Québec GST and QST registration, verify a supplier’s tax number, convert foreign invoices consistently, watch both threshold clocks, pay annual-filer instalments, separate filing and payment deadlines, and close a reporting period with a reproducible record. Every guide links directly to current official sources.
Twenty-seven guides, one clean sequence.
Registration and thresholds 5
Do US clients count toward the GST/HST C$30,000 threshold?
Often, yes. CRA tells most businesses to include worldwide taxable supplies, including zero-rated supplies, in the small-supplier calculation. A US address or US-dollar invoice does not remove the revenue by itself. The supply still has to be classified correctly.
Read the guide 198 minute guideGST/HST for Canadian freelancers paid in USD
Track the gross invoice in Canadian dollars using a supportable exchange-rate date and source. Currency does not decide whether the supply is taxable, zero-rated, or exempt, and processor fees do not reduce gross revenue merely because the deposit was netted.
Read the guide 207 minute guideZero-rated versus exempt foreign-client revenue
Zero-rated supplies are taxable at 0% and generally enter the C$30,000 small-supplier calculation. Exempt supplies are not taxable supplies and ordinarily do not enter that calculation. Both may show no tax to the customer, but the business consequences are different.
Read the guide 218 minute guideOne-quarter versus four-quarter GST/HST threshold timing
CRA applies two tests. Exceeding C$30,000 in one calendar quarter can make the crossing supply immediately relevant. Exceeding C$30,000 over the previous four or fewer consecutive calendar quarters, but not in one quarter, ends small-supplier status at the end of the month following the crossing quarter.
Read the guide 2411 minute guideDo I need a GST/HST number if I make less than C$30,000?
Under the ordinary rule, if your relevant worldwide taxable supplies and those of applicable associates do not exceed C$30,000 under either test, you are generally a small supplier and do not have to register. You may still choose voluntary registration if eligible, but registration means charging applicable tax, filing returns, remitting tax, and normally staying registered for at least one year.
Read the guideRecords and evidence 1
Filing and payment 1
Province-specific rules 19
B.C. PST on professional services: October 1, 2026 checklist
Beginning October 1, 2026, B.C. says 7% PST applies to specified taxable professional services. Accounting, security, and non-residential real estate services generally use the taxable purchase price; qualifying architecture, engineering, and geoscience services use 30% of that taxable purchase-price base. Providers should classify the service, review contracts that cross the date, and register online when required before the first affected sale.
Read the guide 0212 minute guideB.C. PST professional-services invoice example: 7% and the 30% base (2026)
When a B.C. collector provides an invoice and levies PST, section 85 of the Provincial Sales Tax Regulation requires the PST to appear as a separate item. For confirmed taxable architecture, engineering, and geoscience services, preserve the official calculation as 7% of 30% of the taxable purchase price; for the other newly affected groups, 7% generally applies to the full taxable purchase price. Keep GST and PST separate, and do not present 2.1% as the statutory PST rate.
Read the guide 0313 minute guideQuickBooks Online B.C. PST setup for engineering: 7% on 30% plus GST (2026)
Do not use QuickBooks Online's ordinary 12% GST/PST BC code on a fully taxable engineering fee: it would calculate 7% PST on the full fee instead of 7% on 30%. A candidate setup is a 2.1% arithmetic component linked to the B.C. PST agency and, only when 5% GST applies, a group rate that applies both components to the net amount. Do not go live unless a C$1,000 test invoice shows C$50 GST and C$21 B.C. PST separately, totals C$1,071, and the C$21 reaches the correct PST liability and report.
Read the guide 0414 minute guideXero B.C. PST setup for engineering: GST 5% plus 7% on 30% (2026)
For one confirmed fully taxable C$1,000 engineering fee, a candidate Xero rate can contain two components applied to the same line: 5% GST only when the federal treatment is confirmed, and a 2.1% arithmetic PST component that represents 7% of the Province's 30% base. It is not a new 7.1% statutory tax. Do not go live until the PDF shows C$50 GST and C$21 B.C. PST separately, totals C$1,071, both custom components are mapped to the correct return locations, and Xero's single sales-tax account reconciles by component to the federal and provincial workpapers.
Read the guide 0514 minute guideFreshBooks B.C. PST setup for engineering: GST plus 7% on 30% (2026)
FreshBooks currently allows up to two sales taxes on one invoice line and rates to three decimal places. For one confirmed fully taxable C$1,000 engineering fee, a candidate setup can apply GST 5% only when the federal treatment is confirmed and a separately named 2.1% B.C. engineering PST tax that represents 7% of the Province's 30% base. Do not send a live invoice until the customer PDF identifies C$50 GST and C$21 B.C. PST separately, totals C$1,071, and each tax traces through its own Taxes Payable account, the Sales Tax Summary, the legal workpapers, and the external filing and remittance process.
Read the guide 0615 minute guideWave B.C. PST setup for engineering: GST plus 7% on 30% (2026)
For a confirmed fully taxable C$1,000 B.C. engineering fee, the legal calculation is C$50 GST when the federal treatment applies plus C$21 PST, calculated as 7% of 30% of the fee, for a C$1,071 total. A candidate Wave configuration can use separately named 5% and 2.1% arithmetic tax entries only if the actual invoice path attaches both as non-compound taxes, the customer PDF identifies GST and PST separately, and Wave's individual tax accounts and reports reconcile to the legal workpapers. Wave's current manual-invoice instructions describe selecting a tax, while Wave Connect expressly supports multiple tax codes, so do not assume the live workflow passes until it is tested end to end.
Read the guide 0714 minute guideZoho Books B.C. PST setup for engineering: GST plus 7% on 30% (2026)
Do not rely on Zoho Books Canada's ordinary automated B.C. GST + PST treatment for a confirmed engineering fee, because ordinary B.C. PST uses the full amount while the engineering rule uses 30% of the taxable purchase price. A candidate is a non-compound group containing a confirmed 5% GST rate and a separately named 2.1% arithmetic PST component associated with the B.C. agency. Approve it only if a C$1,000 fictional invoice shows C$50 GST and C$21 B.C. PST separately, totals C$1,071, and the same C$21 reaches the correct liability, B.C. PST return detail, credit, and Box B workpaper.
Read the guide 0814 minute guideSage 50 B.C. PST setup for engineering: GST plus 7% on 30% (2026)
A candidate Sage 50 Canada setup can use one tax code containing a confirmed 5% GST component and a separately configured B.C. engineering PST component at the 2.1% arithmetic equivalent of 7% on a 30% base. Do not approve the code from its settings screen: a fictional C$1,000 invoice must show C$50 GST and C$21 B.C. PST separately, total C$1,071, post each tax to its reviewed account, and reconcile through Tax Summary, the provincial return workpaper, credits, and payments. Sage's own support warns that tax display can merge when the company has more than two taxes configured, so the actual customer PDF is a decisive gate.
Read the guide 0916 minute guideB.C. engineering PST software comparison: GST + 2.1% (2026)
No accounting platform should be approved from its feature list alone. For a confirmed fully taxable C$1,000 B.C. engineering fee, the acceptance result is C$50 GST when the federal treatment applies plus C$21 PST, calculated as 7% of 30% of the fee, for a C$1,071 total. QuickBooks Online, Xero, FreshBooks, Wave, Zoho Books, and Sage 50 each document potentially useful tax controls, but every candidate must preserve the separate tax identities on the actual customer PDF and reconcile the same C$50 and C$21 through accounts, reports, credits, Box A, Box B, GST/HST, eTaxBC, and payment evidence.
Read the guide 1011 minute guideB.C. PST on architectural services: taxable phases and 30% invoice (2026)
Effective October 1, 2026, B.C. applies 7% PST to an amount equal to 30% of the purchase price of taxable architectural services. The provider must be registered or required to register with AIBC and the work must be within the practice of architecture. Schematic design through construction contract administration are taxable examples, while pre-design and post-construction services are exempt phases under the current guidance.
Read the guide 1111 minute guideB.C. PST on engineering services: 30% taxable base and invoice example (2026)
Effective October 1, 2026, B.C. applies 7% PST to an amount equal to 30% of the purchase price of taxable engineering or geoscience services. A confirmed C$1,000 taxable fee therefore produces a C$300 PST base and C$21 of PST. Keep that statutory formula, any separately confirmed GST, exempt phases, disbursements, and jurisdiction allocations visible in the invoice workpaper.
Read the guide 1210 minute guideB.C. PST on security services and alarm monitoring in 2026
Starting October 1, 2026, B.C. applies 7% PST to the purchase price of taxable security services provided by a person who holds or must hold a security business licence. Stand-alone alarm monitoring is taxable, while selling, advising on, installing, repairing, or maintaining an alarm is not taxable as a security service—but the equipment, installation, or repair can still follow separate contractor, goods, software, telecommunication, or bundled-sale rules.
Read the guide 1311 minute guideB.C. PST on commercial real estate commissions and property management (2026)
Starting October 1, 2026, B.C. applies 7% PST to taxable commissions, trading services, and licensed rental or strata property-management services for non-residential B.C. real estate. Rent itself and strata fees themselves are not these taxable services. For mixed residential and commercial property, charge PST only on the portion reasonably attributable to the non-residential part.
Read the guide 1412 minute guideB.C. PST on accounting, bookkeeping, payroll, and tax returns (2026)
Starting October 1, 2026, B.C. applies 7% PST to taxable accounting services, including bookkeeping, payroll, billing, accounts payable, reconciliations, assurance, tax or information returns, and tax advice or representation. The provider does not need to be a CPA for the rule to apply. Employee work and in-person accounting training are not accounting services for this PST definition, and published exemptions can change the result.
Read the guide 179 minute guideOntario freelancers: the HST C$30,000 threshold
Ontario does not have a separate ordinary freelancer threshold. Most businesses use the federal C$30,000 small-supplier tests. Once registration is effective, an ordinary taxable service whose place of supply is Ontario is generally subject to 13% HST. Threshold, effective date, and invoice rate are three separate decisions.
Read the guide 189 minute guideQuébec freelancers: the GST/QST C$30,000 threshold
For the ordinary rule, Revenu Québec says you must register for the GST and QST when worldwide taxable supplies made by you and your associates exceed C$30,000 in one calendar quarter or in the four preceding calendar quarters. The common revenue test does not make every GST and QST timing, place-of-supply, or exception rule identical.
Read the guide 228 minute guideHow to pay GST/HST instalments online—and keep proof
Confirm the tax account, administrator, fiscal quarter, amount, and due date before sending money. CRA lists online banking, My Payment, pre-authorized debit, and the personalized RC160 voucher; Revenu Québec publishes a separate GST/QST process. Save the confirmation and verify the payment in the live account.
Read the guide 239 minute guideHow to verify a supplier’s GST/HST number in Canada
Use the free CRA GST/HST Registry with the first nine digits, the supplier’s legal, operating, or trading name, and the transaction date shown on the invoice. For an ordinary Québec QST number, use Revenu Québec’s validator. A number that merely looks like 123456789 RT 0001 or 1234567890 TQ 0001 is not proof that the account was active for the purchase.
Read the guide 259 minute guideHow to invoice without a GST/HST number in Canada
If you have confirmed that you are neither required nor voluntarily registered for GST/HST, you can issue an ordinary commercial invoice without a GST/HST number and generally without charging GST/HST. State the registration status plainly, do not call the supply exempt or zero-rated merely because no tax appears, and recheck the status before the next invoice when the facts change.
Read the guideReview and support 1
Turn uncertainty into a reviewable record.
Each guide separates the legal question, the calculation, and the evidence you should preserve. That makes the free tracker more useful and gives an accountant a clearer starting point.
They do not decide whether your service is zero-rated, register a business, or replace a fact-specific ruling or professional review.