Charge GST, HST, QST and PST in Canada

Five provinces, four kinds of tax

An Ontario sale carries HST. A Quebec sale carries GST and QST. A British Columbia sale carries GST and PST. A sale to Alberta carries GST alone. One rate on the customer cannot hold all of that.

The invoice also has to show the right registration numbers. A Quebec customer expects your QST number. An Ontario customer does not need it.

On purchases, GST and HST come back as input tax credits, but provincial sales tax paid on what you buy does not. Booking it as recoverable overstates the refund and understates cost.

Why this happens

The province is missing from the customer or the ship-to address.
Every registration number is printed on every invoice.
Provincial sales tax on purchases is posted as a recoverable input tax.
Groceries and medical items are taxed at the standard rate because their tax category was never set.

Biznsbook addresses this through The Canada tax pack, tax registrations, provincial sales tax as a cost when Accounting and Taxation are on. Sales, purchases, POS, Field Service, and Real Estate all ask the same tax engine, so the invoice, the return line, and the ledger read the same posted tax.

A second state, a reseller with a certificate, and a supplier that charged nothing are where a rate table drifts. Making Biznsbook the place that taxes the invoice, keeps the certificate, and builds the return keeps those on the same posted tax.

Step-by-step: Charge GST, HST, QST and PST in Canada

Written for owners, bookkeepers, and finance staff who charge and file sales tax, GST, HST, QST, or PST with Biznsbook Taxation. Biznsbook calculates and reports from your own setup. It does not give tax advice and does not file returns with a tax authority for you.

Set your province. On the company profile, set your province and postal code. Set them on each warehouse that is in a different place. Purchases are taxed where the goods are received.
Set customer provinces. Give each customer a province and postal code, or add ship-to addresses on the party Edit page. The invoice is taxed at the ship-to on the form, then the default shipping address, then the customer’s own address.
Install the Canada pack. Open Packs, choose Canada, and tick your provinces or all of them. This adds the Canada Revenue Agency, Revenu Québec and the provincial authorities, the GST, HST, QST and PST components, the rules, and the GST34, QST and PST return templates.
Record your registrations. In Registrations, add your GST/HST number with the CRA, your QST number with Revenu Québec, and a PST number for each province where you are registered. Set the label printed on invoices, such as GST/HST No.
Set item categories. Give items a tax category where they are not general goods, such as groceries, medical, services, or financial services. The pack zero-rates groceries and medical items for GST and HST, and treats financial services as exempt.
Try provinces in the simulator. Open Simulator and try the same line shipped to Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia and Alberta. The result lists each tax, the rule that applied, and why.
Switch to jurisdiction rules. In Settings, set the calculation method to jurisdiction rules. New invoices then use the pack. Then create one filing period per authority, and the report shows the GST34, QST or PST return lines.

Review results after the first full filing period cycle. Adjust roles, mappings, or approvals where the same exception repeats.

Screen names in this guide match the Taxation tab bar in the product: Overview, Returns, Search, Settings, Packs, Rules, Local rates, Simulator, Registrations, Authorities, Components, Groups, Certificates, Nexus, 1099 / T4A, Provider, Checklist, Audit log, Approvals, and Guide. The tab bar only shows the tabs your permissions allow.

Common mistakes to avoid

Mistake 1: The province is missing from the customer or the ship-to address. Repeating this each month usually shows up first in a return line that does not match the ledger, or tax charged in the wrong place.
Mistake 2: Every registration number is printed on every invoice. Repeating this each month usually shows up first in a return line that does not match the ledger, or tax charged in the wrong place.
Mistake 3: Provincial sales tax on purchases is posted as a recoverable input tax. Repeating this each month usually shows up first in a return line that does not match the ledger, or tax charged in the wrong place.
Mistake 4: Groceries and medical items are taxed at the standard rate because their tax category was never set. Repeating this each month usually shows up first in a return line that does not match the ledger, or tax charged in the wrong place.

Note each recurring gap when you review the filing period. Each one should map to a step in this guide or an item on the compliance checklist.

Best practices that hold up as you scale

Set your province — On the company profile, set your province and postal code.
Set customer provinces — Give each customer a province and postal code, or add ship-to addresses on the party Edit page.
Install the Canada pack — Open Packs, choose Canada, and tick your provinces or all of them.
Record your registrations — In Registrations, add your GST/HST number with the CRA, your QST number with Revenu Québec, and a PST number for each province where you are registered.
Set item categories — Give items a tax category where they are not general goods, such as groceries, medical, services, or financial services.

Teams that keep addresses complete, try a change in the Tax Simulator before switching it on, and file from the return lines rather than a side spreadsheet keep the invoice, the return, and the ledger in step.

How Biznsbook supports this workflow

The Canada tax pack — part of Biznsbook Taxation, which sits on Accounting. Tax can come from tax groups, from jurisdiction rules installed by the Canada or US pack, or from your own Avalara AvaTax or TaxJar account. Whichever method you pick, posted tax lands on invoice tax lines that the dashboard, the return lines, and the settlement journal all read. Posted documents keep their tax when you change the setup later.

tax registrations — part of Biznsbook Taxation, which sits on Accounting. Tax can come from tax groups, from jurisdiction rules installed by the Canada or US pack, or from your own Avalara AvaTax or TaxJar account. Whichever method you pick, posted tax lands on invoice tax lines that the dashboard, the return lines, and the settlement journal all read. Posted documents keep their tax when you change the setup later.

provincial sales tax as a cost — part of Biznsbook Taxation, which sits on Accounting. Tax can come from tax groups, from jurisdiction rules installed by the Canada or US pack, or from your own Avalara AvaTax or TaxJar account. Whichever method you pick, posted tax lands on invoice tax lines that the dashboard, the return lines, and the settlement journal all read. Posted documents keep their tax when you change the setup later.

The Canada and US tax packs are drafts until a tax adviser reviews them, and rates and taxability must be checked for your business. Rates are effective-dated, and reinstalling a pack keeps rules you edited. Biznsbook prepares returns and contractor figures and exports them; it does not e-file, and it is not tax advice.

Suggested implementation timeline

Week 1: Complete the state or province and postal code on the company, warehouses, and customers, and install the country pack for the places you sell into.
Week 2: Record your registrations, set item tax categories, and try real sales and purchases in the Tax Simulator.
Week 3: Switch Tax Settings to jurisdiction rules, post a few real invoices and purchase bills, and check the tax on each.
Week 4: Create the first filing period, put the Canada tax pack to work on real postings, review the return lines against posted tax, and export them for your adviser.
Ongoing: Each filing period, review the compliance checklist and the points under “Rates the Canada pack starts with” below.

Product page: Taxation. Hub: sales tax and GST guides. Decision: built-in sales tax rules vs Avalara or TaxJar.

Why only some registrations print

A registration prints on an invoice when its authority collects a tax on that invoice, or when its province is where the sale is taxed. That is why the same company shows different numbers to an Ontario customer and a Quebec customer, without anyone choosing them by hand.

Charge tax only where the company is registered uses the same records. A GST/HST registration covers Ontario HST but not Quebec QST, so if you are not registered for QST and tick that setting, Quebec sales do not charge QST.

Purchases, input tax credits and cost

On purchase bills, recoverable GST, HST and QST go to input tax, which the GST34 and QST returns read as credits and refunds. Provincial sales tax is never recoverable, so the non-recoverable share goes to cost instead of the input tax account.

Each rule carries a recoverable percentage for purchases. The pack sets the provincial sales taxes to zero recoverable. If your adviser says a purchase is treated differently, edit or add a dated rule.

Metrics to track monthly

Compliance checklist items by severity
Exemption certificates expiring within 30 days or already expired
States at or approaching their economic nexus threshold
Draft filing periods close to their end date
Recent sales to customers with no address, taxed at your own location

Start with three metrics; trend direction matters more than a single point-in-time snapshot.

Spreadsheet rate table vs Biznsbook Taxation

Compare a typical rate spreadsheet and manual return with the same work in Biznsbook Taxation.

Capability	Manual / Spreadsheet	Biznsbook
Ontario sale	❌ A rate someone remembers	✅ HST from the pack rule for Ontario
Quebec sale	❌ GST added, QST forgotten	✅ GST plus QST on the same base
BC, Saskatchewan, Manitoba	❌ One combined rate	✅ GST plus the province’s PST or RST as separate taxes
PST on purchases	❌ Booked as recoverable	✅ Never recoverable, so it is a cost
Registration numbers	❌ All printed on every invoice	✅ Only the ones that apply to that invoice
Groceries and medical	❌ Taxed by mistake	✅ Zero-rated by category rules

Rates the Canada pack starts with

The pack starts with GST at 5%, HST at 13% in Ontario and 15% in New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island, and in Nova Scotia 15% to 31 March 2025 and then 14%. QST is 9.975% alongside GST. BC PST is 7%, Saskatchewan PST 6%, and Manitoba RST 7%. Rules are dated, so the Nova Scotia change applies from its effective date.

Write this into your filing routine, and revisit it when you register in a new province or state or change how tax is calculated.

Frequently asked questions

Will an Ontario invoice show my QST number?

No. An invoice prints only the registrations that apply to it: an Ontario invoice shows GST/HST, and a Quebec invoice adds QST.

Can I reclaim PST paid on purchases?

Not in the pack. BC PST, Saskatchewan PST and Manitoba RST are never recoverable, so PST on what you buy is treated as a cost rather than an input tax credit.

What does a sale to Alberta charge?

GST only. The pack charges GST across Canada, switches it off where HST replaces it, and adds QST or PST only in the provinces that levy them.

What if a pack rate is wrong for my business?

Edit the rule in Rules. Edited rules are kept when the pack is reinstalled. The Canada pack is a draft until a tax adviser reviews it, so confirm rates and taxability for your case.

How this differs by industry

Retail

A Toronto store taxes counter sales at the store through POS, and online orders shipped to Quebec carry GST and QST on the sale invoice.

Wholesale & distribution

A distributor in British Columbia charges GST and BC PST on local deliveries and HST on loads shipped to Ontario, with PST paid on its own supplies treated as a cost.

Manufacturing

A Manitoba manufacturer sets food products to the groceries category so they are zero-rated for GST, while equipment it sells carries GST and RST in Manitoba.