Clear GST/HST and Québec GST/QST guides for freelancers.
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.
Eleven guides, one clean sequence.
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 029 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 038 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 047 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 058 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 068 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 079 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 0811 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 guide 099 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 guide 108 minute guideGST/HST filing deadline for self-employed Canadians: file versus pay
Monthly and quarterly GST/HST returns are generally filed and paid one month after the reporting period ends. Most annual businesses use three months after fiscal year-end, but a sole proprietor with a December 31 year-end and business income generally pays by April 30 and files by June 15. Confirm both dates in the live tax account.
Read the guide 119 minute guideQuarterly GST/HST review checklist for Canadian freelancers
Start with the reporting period and deadline, then reconcile gross sales, GST/HST collected or collectible, eligible purchase evidence, foreign-currency conversions, provider deductions, and the final filing record. This checklist organizes the evidence; it does not prepare or file a return.
Read the guideTurn 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.