Quick answer: Your GST/HST reporting period is assigned from revenue — annual up to $1.5M in taxable supplies, quarterly to $6M, monthly above that. You can elect a more frequent period at any time, using form GST20 or the “File an election” service in My Business Account. Electing a less frequent period is only open once your taxable supplies have been below your assigned period’s threshold for 12 months, and the change never happens automatically.
Changing the period changes your deadlines for years, and the election has to be in before the period it affects. Talk it through first, free.
How to change your GST/HST filing frequency: it was assigned, not chosen
When a business registers for GST/HST, the CRA assigns a reporting period from its annual taxable supplies: $1,500,000 or less is assigned annual, over $1.5M up to $6,000,000 quarterly, and above $6,000,000 monthly. Most owners never revisit it. That default is worth questioning in two specific situations, and locked against you in a third.
This page owns the change itself. The election form is described on the GST20 page, and the due dates that follow from each period are on the GST filing deadlines page.
Filing more often: open to anyone, any time
An annual or quarterly filer can elect a more frequent period whenever it wants. The business case is refunds: a company that usually claims more input tax credits than it collects — exporters and other zero-rated businesses are the classic case — gets its money back per return. On an annual cycle that refund arrives once a year; on monthly, twelve times. The election is made on form GST20 or, faster, through the “File an election” service in My Business Account.
Filing less often: the 12-month rule
Moving the other way is restricted. A monthly or quarterly filer can only elect a less frequent period once its taxable supplies have stayed below the threshold of its assigned period for 12 months. And here is the part that quietly costs shrinking businesses money and time: the CRA never adjusts your period downward on its own. Revenue falls below the threshold, and nothing happens — without an election you keep filing monthly forever, twelve filings a year for a business that qualifies for one.
The revenue figure is not simply your sales
The threshold amount is your taxable supplies for the immediately preceding fiscal year, but adjusted. It includes zero-rated supplies and the taxable supplies of associated businesses, and excludes supplies made outside Canada, zero-rated exports, exempt supplies, financial services, goodwill, and sales of capital real property. Two businesses with identical revenue can sit on opposite sides of a threshold once the adjustments run, so the figure is worth computing rather than eyeballing.
The mechanics and the timing
- Confirm the period you were assigned. It follows taxable supplies: annual to $1.5M, quarterly to $6M, monthly above that.
- Decide the direction. More frequent is open to anyone, any time; less frequent runs into the 12-month rule.
- File the GST20 election before the period it is to apply to. The change also moves your deadlines.
- Align the switch with your books. A mid-year change creates a stub period that still needs its own return.
- Settle the quick method and instalments at the same time. All three interact; one decision a year is how they come apart.
| Annual taxable supplies | Assigned | Can elect |
|---|---|---|
| $1,500,000 or less | Annual | Quarterly or monthly, any time |
| Over $1.5M to $6,000,000 | Quarterly | Monthly any time; annual only via the 12-month rule |
| Over $6,000,000 | Monthly | Less frequent only via the 12-month rule |
A change also changes your deadlines: monthly and quarterly returns are due one month after each period, annual returns three months after year-end — the full calendar is on the GST34 page. Whichever way you move, align the switch with your books: a mid-year change creates a stub period that still needs its own return, and the instalment rules for annual filers switch on and off with the period. If the decision interacts with the quick method or with instalments, settle all three at once rather than one per year.
Whichever frequency you land on, the return itself is routine work we prepare and file on that schedule; GST/HST filing services covers what is included.
Common questions
How do I change my GST filing frequency?+
Can I switch from monthly GST filing back to annual?+
Why would anyone choose to file GST more often?+
What counts toward the revenue thresholds?+
Does changing frequency change my deadlines?+
How often do I need to file GST in Canada?+
How do I change my GST reporting period?+
How do I change GST from quarterly to annual?+
Can I change GST filing from monthly to quarterly?+
What is the general method for GST?+
Related reading
- GST20: the reporting-period election
- GST34: the GST/HST return and its deadlines
- GST/HST instalments for annual filers
- The GST/HST quick method
General information current as of August 2026, not advice for your situation. Please speak with a CPA about your circumstances.
Prepared and reviewed by a Chartered Professional Accountant at EverStone CPA, an Abbotsford CPA firm working with small businesses and incorporated owners across the Fraser Valley and Canada. About the firm → · Book a free consult →
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