--- title: "Ottawa Sales Tax: HST, and QST When You Sell to Quebec" url: https://www.everstonecpa.com/gst-hst-filing-ottawa description: "GST/HST filing for Ottawa businesses: the 13% Ontario HST, when 9.975% QST applies across the river. See how place-of-supply decides which one you charge." type: service-in-a-city updated: 2026-10-02 summary: "For Ottawa businesses, Ontario charges a single 13% HST administered by the Canada Revenue Agency. Quebec instead runs 5% GST alongside a separate Quebec sales tax calculated at 9.975% of the selling price excluding GST, with Revenu Québec administering both taxes within the province. GST/HST filing is included in monthly bookkeeping from $325 a month." faq_count: 7 publisher: EverStone CPA Inc., a Chartered Professional Accountant firm registered with CPA British Columbia and CPA Alberta service_area: British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and Manitoba language: en-CA contact: info@everstonecpa.com · https://www.everstonecpa.com/book-online --- [Home](https://www.everstonecpa.com/) Ottawa HST & QST · Ottawa # GST/HST filing in *Ottawa* An Ottawa business is fifteen minutes from a different sales tax system. Quebec has its own tax, administrator and registration. EverStone handles both sides for [Ottawa businesses](https://www.everstonecpa.com/accountant-ottawa) remotely. [Get My Fixed Quote](https://www.everstonecpa.com/book-online)[Ask a Free Question](https://www.everstonecpa.com/quick-question) **Quick answer:** For Ottawa businesses, Ontario charges a single 13% HST administered by the Canada Revenue Agency. Quebec instead runs 5% GST alongside a separate Quebec sales tax calculated at 9.975% of the selling price excluding GST, with Revenu Québec administering both taxes within the province. GST/HST filing is included in monthly bookkeeping from $325 a month. 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. QST is calculated on the price before GST, not on top of it. ## 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](https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/forms-publications/publications/rc4022.html). 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](https://www.everstonecpa.com/blog/gst-hst-place-of-supply-rules-canada) 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](https://www.everstonecpa.com/ontario-tax-facts). 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](https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/forms-publications/publications/rc4022.html) 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](https://www.everstonecpa.com/gst-filing-deadlines) 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](https://www.everstonecpa.com/pricing) before anything starts. About this article **EverStone CPA** Prepared and reviewed by a CPA at EverStone CPA, serving businesses in BC, Alberta, Ontario and Manitoba. Updated September 2026 . [About the firm](https://www.everstonecpa.com/about) · [Send an enquiry](https://www.everstonecpa.com/book-online) ## Sales tax that applies to an Ottawa business Sales tax that applies to an Ottawa business Sales tax in Ontario | Tax | Rate | Administered by | | HST | 13% | Canada Revenue Agency | | Separate PST | None | — | | Composition | 5% federal + 8% provincial | — | Source: [Ontario tax facts](https://www.everstonecpa.com/ontario-tax-facts). General information, not advice. In Ottawa, EverStone also works with [consultants](https://www.everstonecpa.com/consultant-accountant-ottawa), [restaurants](https://www.everstonecpa.com/restaurant-accountant-ottawa) and [tech startups](https://www.everstonecpa.com/tech-startup-accountant-ottawa). ## Who this is for, and who it is not This fits an Ontario business on a single HST registration. It does not fit one trading across provincial lines without knowing which rate applies where; [place of supply](https://www.everstonecpa.com/accountant-ontario) decides that, and it decides it per invoice. ## What happens when you get in touch Ontario HST is one registration and one return, which makes the first month straightforward. - **A free thirty-minute conversation.** What you do, what is filed and what is overdue. You leave with a fixed fee in writing and no obligation to take it. - **Access, in the first week.** We are [authorized with the CRA](https://www.everstonecpa.com/forms/aut-01), so notices and balances get looked up rather than requested from you. If you are [switching firms](https://www.everstonecpa.com/switching-accountants), your file is requested the same week. - **Current, then ahead.** Books set up or brought current, anything overdue scheduled oldest year first, and the next twelve months of deadlines set before they arrive. [Send an enquiry](https://www.everstonecpa.com/book-online), or [ask one question first](https://www.everstonecpa.com/quick-question) — both go to a CPA, not a queue. Common questions ## Ottawa and cross-border sales tax questions **What sales tax applies in Quebec compared with Ontario?** Ontario applies a single 13% HST administered by the CRA. Quebec instead runs the 5% federal GST alongside a separate Quebec sales tax at 9.975%, calculated on the selling price excluding GST. They are structurally different systems rather than the same tax at two rates. [Ask about your case →](https://www.everstonecpa.com/quick-question) **Who administers GST in Quebec?** Revenu Québec. Under a federal-Quebec agreement it runs both the GST/HST and the QST in the province, including registrations, returns, remittances and rebates. **Do I charge HST or QST to a client in Gatineau?** It depends on where the supply is made, not where your office is. For many services the place of supply follows the address of the recipient obtained in the ordinary course of business. **Do we have to register for QST?** Possibly, if sales into Quebec become substantial. Suppliers outside Quebec can fall within the QST registration requirements in defined circumstances, depending on what they supply into the province and how much. **Is the Ontario provincial portion of HST recoverable?** Yes. The whole 13% paid on business inputs is claimable through input tax credits, because Ontario harmonized its provincial tax with the federal one. There is no separate provincial registration and no non-recoverable provincial layer sitting in your costs. **Is there an EverStone office in Ottawa?** No. Ottawa businesses are served remotely by video call, secure file exchange and e-signature; preparing sales tax returns needs no in-person meeting. **Do you work with businesses outside Ottawa itself?** Yes. Registrants in Kanata, Nepean, Orléans and, across the river, Gatineau file on the same schedule and at the same fee as Ottawa businesses; nothing about the service depends on the municipality. ## Related services and local guides Nearby cities, the rest of what we do for Ottawa businesses, and the reference pages behind this one. [Realtor accountant in Ottawa](https://www.everstonecpa.com/realtor-accountant-ottawa) [Financial statements for Ottawa consultants and government suppliers](https://www.everstonecpa.com/financial-statements-ottawa) [Bookkeeping for Ottawa businesses](https://www.everstonecpa.com/bookkeeping-ottawa) [GST/HST Filing Tracker A free spreadsheet tracking GST/HST collected and input tax credits by period, calculating the net owing so filing becomes transcription, not archaeology.](https://www.everstonecpa.com/gst-hst-filing-tracker) [The section 156 election: nil consideration between related corporations](https://www.everstonecpa.com/blog/gst-hst-section-156-election-related-corporations) [Marketplace GST/HST rules: when the platform collects and when you must](https://www.everstonecpa.com/blog/ecommerce-marketplace-facilitator-rules-canada) [Cash flow in a seasonal business instalments, GST/HST and the lumpy year](https://www.everstonecpa.com/blog/managing-cash-flow-seasonal-business-canada) [A GST/HST audit: what the CRA actually checks](https://www.everstonecpa.com/blog/gst-hst-audit-what-cra-checks) [Construction holdbacks: when they become income and when the GST/HST is due](https://www.everstonecpa.com/blog/construction-holdbacks-accounting-canada) [GST/HST filing in Chilliwack](https://www.everstonecpa.com/gst-hst-filing-chilliwack) [GST/HST filing in Abbotsford](https://www.everstonecpa.com/gst-hst-filing-abbotsford) [GST/HST filing in Mission](https://www.everstonecpa.com/gst-hst-filing-mission) [Payroll in Ottawa](https://www.everstonecpa.com/payroll-services-ottawa) [CFO services in Ottawa](https://www.everstonecpa.com/cfo-services-ottawa) [Accounting & CPA services in Ottawa](https://www.everstonecpa.com/accountant-ottawa) [GST/HST hub](https://www.everstonecpa.com/gst-hst-hub) [GST/HST calculator Work out the tax on any amount](https://www.everstonecpa.com/gst-hst-calculator) [Accountants across Ontario](https://www.everstonecpa.com/accountant-ontario) [Ontario tax facts Current rates and thresholds for Ontario](https://www.everstonecpa.com/ontario-tax-facts) ### Starting fees GST/HST and PST filing is included in monthly bookkeeping. Every fee is fixed in writing before any work begins. - **Monthly bookkeeping, HST filing included** from $325 a month *This page* - **Payroll, remittances, T4s and ROEs** included in monthly bookkeeping - **Books, payroll and the year-end T2 together** $500–$700 a month - **Corporate year-end and T2 return** fixed fee, quoted in writing - **Personal tax return (T1)** from $125; self-employed or rental $275–$500 - **Catch-up bookkeeping** from $2,200 per year of records - **Controller or CFO support** controller from $1,650, CFO from $2,750 a month - **One-off advice call with a CPA** $225 plus GST [Get My Fixed Quote](https://www.everstonecpa.com/book-online?service=monthly#enquiry-form) --- Source: https://www.everstonecpa.com/gst-hst-filing-ottawa Prices: https://www.everstonecpa.com/pricing · Contact: info@everstonecpa.com · https://www.everstonecpa.com/book-online