Tax · Registration
GST/HST registration threshold.
A narrow check against one CRA rule: has your business stopped being a “small supplier,” and do you have to register for GST/HST?
CRA runs two separate tests, and either one alone ends small-supplier status: total worldwide taxable-supply revenue over $30,000 in any single calendar quarter, OR over $30,000 across the last four consecutive calendar quarters combined. The threshold is $50,000 instead of $30,000 for public service bodies (charities, non-profits, municipalities, hospitals, schools, colleges and universities).
This tool answers one question — are you over the line — from figures you enter. It is not a tax-planning tool and it does not estimate what you owe.
This checks GST/HST registration only. For personal or self-employed income tax, use the Ontario income tax calculator or the Canada income tax calculator for other provinces.
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Result
Fill the form and press Calculate.
The two tests, exactly as CRA writes them
You are a small supplier — and you do not have to register — only if your worldwide taxable-supply revenue (yours plus any associated businesses’) is at or under the threshold on both of these tests. Failing either one ends small-supplier status:
- Single-quarter test: more than $30,000 (or $50,000 for a public service body) in any one calendar quarter, by itself.
- Four-quarter test: more than $30,000 (or $50,000) across the last four consecutive calendar quarters, added together.
Whichever test you cross first is the one that ends your small-supplier status. If a single quarter alone puts you over, that is the binding test even if your trailing four-quarter total would not otherwise have tripped yet. If no single quarter crosses the line but the four-quarter sum does, that is the binding test instead.
Once you are no longer a small supplier, GST/HST must be charged starting on the sale that pushed you over the threshold — even before you are registered — and you must register within 29 days of ceasing to be a small supplier. A small supplier may always choose to register voluntarily.
Source: CRA RC4022, “General Information for GST/HST Registrants,” and CRA’s “When to register for and start charging the GST/HST” page (canada.ca), read 24 September 2026. The $50,000 public-service-body threshold is also confirmed in CRA GI-068.
Worked example: three businesses against the $30,000 test
Business A earned $8,000, $9,500, $11,000 and $12,000 in its last four quarters. No single quarter is over $30,000, but the four-quarter total is $40,500, so the four-quarter test is binding and it is no longer a small supplier.
Business B earned $7,000 in each of four quarters: $28,000 in total and under $30,000 in every quarter, so it can stay unregistered.
Business C earned $31,000 in one quarter and nothing in the others. That one quarter passes $30,000 by itself, so the single-quarter test ends small-supplier status even though the sum for the year is the same $31,000.
Sources
Last verified 24 September 2026.
Common mix-ups
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Often assumedThe $30,000 limit is measured per calendar year, so I can wait until January to check.
What the source saysThe CRA describes the small supplier test as not exceeding $30,000 over four consecutive calendar quarters. That is a rolling window, so the total can cross the line partway through a year, not only on December 31. [1]
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Often assumedPassing $30,000 only counts if I did it across a few months; one big sale does not trigger anything.
What the source saysThe CRA says you stop being a small supplier if you exceed $30,000 in a single calendar quarter, on the supply that causes you to exceed it. After that, you must register if you make taxable supplies in Canada. [1]
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Often assumedUnder $30,000 I am not allowed to have a GST/HST account at all.
What the source saysThe CRA says registration is required if you are not a small supplier and make taxable supplies in Canada. It also says you may choose to register voluntarily if you make taxable sales, leases or other supplies in Canada, even below the threshold. [1]
Checked against these sources on .
Frequently asked questions
Is the GST/HST small-supplier threshold $30,000 in a single quarter, or over a year?
Neither, exactly. It is $30,000 in any single calendar quarter, OR $30,000 across the last four consecutive calendar quarters combined — whichever you cross first. A rolling four-quarter window is not the same thing as a calendar year.
Do charities and non-profits use a different threshold?
Yes. Public service bodies — charities, non-profits, municipalities, hospitals, school authorities, colleges and universities — use $50,000 instead of $30,000, on the same single-quarter and four-quarter tests.
What happens the moment I go over the threshold?
You must charge GST/HST on the sale that put you over — even if you have not registered yet — and you have 29 days to register with CRA.
Can I register for GST/HST before I hit the threshold?
Yes. Small suppliers can register voluntarily at any point, which lets you claim input tax credits on business purchases, at the cost of having to charge and remit GST/HST on every taxable sale.
Estimate only — not tax advice
This tool applies one published CRA rule to the figures you enter. It does not account for associated-business revenue rules in full, exempt supplies, or every edge case CRA's own determination considers. Confirm your actual status with CRA or a tax professional before registering or not registering.