Low-Cost Saskatchewan PST Registration for Canadian Businesses

GST or HST is calculated on the selling price of a taxable supply and shown separately on the invoice. Place-of-supply rules decide which province's rate applies, and that is usually where the customer receives the goods or service rather than where you operate. A registrant remits the tax collected less input tax credits for GST or HST paid on business purchases, so the amount sent to the CRA with each return is the net figure, not everything collected.

Basic groceries are zero-rated, so no GST or HST is charged on staples such as bread, milk, vegetables, meat and eggs. Tax does apply to restaurant meals, most prepared or heated food, catering, carbonated drinks, candy and snack foods. Provinces that run their own sales tax set separate food exemptions, so an identical item can be treated differently from one province to the next. A business selling both categories has to code its items correctly at the till.

HST in Nova Scotia is 14% in 2026. The province cut it from 15% on 1 April 2025 by lowering its own component from 10% to 9%; the federal 5% GST part was unchanged. Nova Scotia is the only jurisdiction at 14%, so the Atlantic provinces are no longer on one rate. Under the transitional rules, amounts that became payable before 1 April 2025 were still subject to 15%.

No - basic groceries are zero-rated, taxed at 0% in 2026, so bread, milk, vegetables and most unprepared food carry no GST/HST. Zero-rated is not the same as exempt: a grocer selling zero-rated food still claims input tax credits on rent, equipment and other costs, which a supplier of exempt goods cannot. Snack foods, restaurant meals and many prepared items fall outside basic groceries and are taxed at the full rate.

The consumer bears it; the business collects it. A registered vendor adds GST/HST to taxable sales, holds it in trust and remits it to the CRA, recovering the tax it paid on its own inputs through input tax credits. So businesses in the chain are generally neutral, while the final buyer pays. Some purchasers, including certain Indigenous purchases on reserve, governments and diplomats, have relief, and low-income households receive the quarterly GST/HST credit.

File the missing returns first, because the real balance is not known until each year is assessed. Then pay through online banking, the CRA's payment service, pre-authorised debit or your financial institution, and state which tax year the money is for. Interest compounds daily on unpaid balances from the original due date, so a partial payment now still helps. If paying in full is impossible, ask for a payment arrangement; form RC4288 requests relief from penalties and interest in limited circumstances.

A bed tax is the informal name for a municipal or provincial tax on short-term accommodation, charged on a hotel, motel or short-term rental night. Municipalities in Ontario, Alberta, British Columbia and elsewhere levy it under their own legislation, usually as a percentage of the room charge, and rates and names differ by city. GST/HST applies on top. Operators collect and remit it to the city or province, not to the CRA. Check your municipality's bylaw for the current rate.

Two things: your property's assessed value and the tax rate your municipality sets each year, plus any education levy. Assessment reflects the market value of comparable properties at a set valuation date, so additions, renovations and rising local sale prices push it up. The bill falls when the assessment drops, a rate is cut, or you qualify for a rebate or a seniors or disability deferral. An assessment you believe is wrong can be appealed by the deadline on the notice.

Child care expenses are normally claimed by the parent with the lower net income, even where the other parent paid them. Exceptions let the higher-income parent claim when the lower-income parent was in school, in hospital, confined, or the couple lived apart at year end because the relationship broke down. Separated parents each claim what they personally paid for the period the child lived with them. Keep receipts naming the provider and their number.

Pool the receipts and claim them on one return. The donation credit pays a lower rate on an initial band of giving each year and a higher rate above that band, so combining both partners' receipts moves more of the total into the higher-rate band. Either spouse may claim donations made by the other. Where the credit cannot be used in full this year, unclaimed receipts can be carried forward to a later year rather than wasted.

Employment income is taxed at source, so the levers are deductions and credits rather than avoidance. RRSP contributions reduce taxable income, and Form T1213 asks the CRA to lower the tax withheld from your pay for deductions you know you will claim. The CRA publishes no processing standard for it, so allow several weeks and send the request in the autumn before the year it applies to; a letter of authority covers one tax year only. Union dues, professional fees, child care and employer-approved employment expenses also help.

Filing is required whenever tax is owing for the year, when the CRA asks you to file, or when part of a benefit such as OAS has to be repaid. Even with no tax owing, most retirees should still file. The GST/HST credit, the Guaranteed Income Supplement, provincial credits and age-related amounts are all calculated from the filed return, and a missed year can interrupt those payments until the return goes in.