How to get a GST/HST number for a new business

You get a GST/HST number by registering with the Canada Revenue Agency, usually online through Business Registration Online. You must register once your taxable sales pass $30,000 in one calendar quarter or over four quarters in a row; below that it is optional. The number looks like 123456789 RT0001 and goes on your invoices.

A GST/HST number is your nine-digit Business Number (BN) followed by RT0001, the code for your GST/HST account. If you already have a Business Number, for example because you incorporated, the GST/HST account is added to it. If you do not, the CRA gives you a Business Number at the same time as you register.

Do you need one yet?

Most new businesses start out as small suppliers: taxable sales of $30,000 or less over the last four calendar quarters. A small supplier does not have to register, and must not charge GST/HST while it is not registered. You have to register when you pass the threshold:

• In a single calendar quarter (January to March, April to June, July to September, October to December): you stop being a small supplier with the sale that took you over $30,000, and you charge GST/HST on that sale and every one after it. Register within 29 days.
• Over four calendar quarters in a row, without passing it in any one quarter: you stop being a small supplier at the end of the month after the quarter in which you passed it. Charge GST/HST from your first sale after that, and register within 29 days.
• Taxi and commercial ride-sharing drivers have to register from their first fare, whatever their sales.

You can also register before you have to. The benefit is that you can claim back the GST/HST you pay on business costs, including what you spend getting started. The cost is that you must then charge GST/HST on your taxable sales and file a return every reporting period, even a nil one. A voluntary registration usually takes effect on the day you ask, or up to 30 days earlier.

What to have ready

• A CRA account, to register online.
• Your business name, type (sole proprietor, partnership or corporation) and a short description of what you sell.
• Your physical and mailing addresses.
• The name and Social Insurance Number of every owner.
• The date you want the registration to start, your fiscal year end, and your expected annual revenue (a reasonable estimate is fine for a new business).
• Your Business Number, if you already have one.

Registering online

1. On canada.ca, open Register for a GST/HST account and choose Business Registration Online.
2. Sign in with your CRA account.
3. Fill in the business, owners and addresses, then choose to register for a GST/HST account and enter the start date, fiscal year end and revenue estimate.
4. Before you close the session, save or print the page with your Business Number. Business Registration Online does not send it to you afterwards. The session times out after 10 minutes without activity and cannot be saved halfway, so have everything from the list above in front of you.
5. Add the Business Number to your CRA account, so you can file returns and see your GST/HST account online.

Once you are registered

• Charge GST/HST from your registration's start date, at the rate for your customer's province (see How to charge GST/HST on an invoice, by province).
• Put your GST/HST number on your invoices. A client needs it on any invoice of $100 or more to claim the tax back.
• File a return for every reporting period the CRA assigns you (monthly, quarterly or yearly), even when you owe nothing.
• Keep your invoices and receipts. The CRA generally expects records to be kept for six years from the end of the year they relate to.

Doing it in Todah

1. Save your number: Settings → Books & Tax → GST/HST Registration Number, for example 123456789 RT0001, then Save Books Settings. It prints on every invoice, quote and credit note from then on.
2. Add your taxes: Settings → Books & Tax → Set Up from a Province, for the province you sell in most.
3. Make that tax the default with Make Default, so every new invoice line picks it.
4. At filing time, open Reports → Accounting & Tax → Sales Tax for the period. The return's lines are laid out for you (see Which CRA line is which on the GST/HST return).