GST/HST filing in Ottawa

Ottawa GST filing comes with bookkeeping from $325 a month. The work covers the GST/HST return (the GST34), input tax credits, the filing frequency, instalments where they apply and the notice of assessment that follows.

GST/HST filing in Ottawa: two regimes, one commuter belt

Ontario charges a single 13% HST, administered by the Canada Revenue Agency and fully recoverable by registered purchasers through input tax credits. Quebec charges 5% GST plus a separate Quebec sales tax at 9.975%, calculated on the price excluding the GST. Few Canadian cities sit this close to so sharp a tax boundary.

One further wrinkle catches even accountants. Under a federal-Quebec agreement, Revenu Québec administers the GST/HST within Quebec as well as the QST — registrations, returns, remittances and rebates for both. A business with a Quebec footprint may be dealing with a different administrator for the federal tax too.

Which side of the line a sale falls on

For an Ottawa seller, what matters is where the supply is made, not where the business is. GST/HST is charged at the rate for the place of supply, which for many services follows the address of the recipient obtained in the ordinary course of business. An Ottawa consultancy billing a Gatineau client is not automatically making an Ontario supply.

Once sales into Quebec become substantial, the business may need to register for and collect QST. Suppliers outside Quebec can fall within the QST net in defined circumstances, depending on the nature and volume of what they supply there, not on one bright line. Decide it deliberately, before a Revenu Québec enquiry arrives. Our guide to the place of supply rules covers the federal analysis underneath.

The Ontario side, and what harmonization is worth

The Ontario side is simpler: one registration, one return, and the whole 13% paid on inputs recoverable through input tax credits, with no non-recoverable provincial cost. See the Ontario tax facts page. On the Ontario side, the GST HST filing Ottawa businesses face is one return to one administrator; the Quebec side is where the extra work sits.

Reporting periods for the federal side are assigned on annual taxable supplies. Monthly and quarterly filers file and pay one month after the period ends. Annual filers file and pay three months after their fiscal year-end, so March 31 for a corporation with a December 31 year-end. The exception is a sole proprietor with a December 31 year-end, who files by June 15 with the balance due April 30. Annual filers whose net tax last year was $3,000 or more also owe quarterly instalments during the year. The deadlines page sets them out.

What is covered

• HST registration and returns filed on your assigned reporting period
• Place of supply determined for sales made into Quebec
• Assessment of whether QST registration is required for your Quebec activity
• Input tax credits claimed on the full 13% for Ontario purchases
• Instalment obligations flagged for annual filers before a notice arrives
• Returns reconciled to the sales ledger by jurisdiction
• Correspondence with the CRA, and with Revenu Québec where applicable

Remote, from the other side of the country

EverStone is a virtual, one-CPA firm with no Ottawa office. Ottawa businesses work with us by video, secure document exchange and e-signature. Cross-border sales tax is about rules and records, not geography, and one accountant holding both sides matters more than proximity. See how fees are agreed before anything starts.