Filing your GST/HST returns

Once you register for GST/HST account, you will automatically receive Form GST34, Goods and Services Tax/Harmonized Sales Tax (GST/HST) Return for Registrants, which includes pre-printed information about your account.

Filing and remitting due dates

Monthly and quarterly filers
If your reporting period is monthly or quarterly, you have to file your GST/HST return and remit any amount owing no later than one month after the end of your reporting period.

Annual filers
If your reporting period is annual, you usually have to file your return and remit any amount owing no later than three months after the end of your fiscal year.

Exception
If all of the following apply to you, then your GST/HST return is due by June 15. However, any GST/HST remittance is due by April 30. These different due dates apply if:

• you are an individual with business income for income tax purposes;
• you file annual GST/HST returns; and
• you have a December 31 fiscal year-end.

As an annual filer, you may also have to pay quarterly installments. If so, they are due no later than one month after the last day of each fiscal quarter. See "Installment payments" for more information.

How to file your return and remit any amount owing

Depending on your situation, you may have several different options for filing your GST/HST return and remitting any amount owing.

Option 1 - by mail
You can mail your return and your remittance, if any, to the address shown on the GST/HST return.

Print your Business Number on your cheque and make it payable to the Receiver General. Do not send cash in the mail. To avoid processing delays, do not staple or attach receipts or other supporting documents to your return.

Note
You have to make your remittance at your financial institution if it is more than $50,000.

Option 2 - at your financial institution
If you are remitting an amount owing, you can take your return and remittance to your participating financial institution in Canada, unless:

• you are offsetting an amount owing on the return by a rebate or refund;
• you are claiming a refund; or
• you are filing a nil return.

In these cases, you have to mail your return and remittance to the address shown on your return. You cannot claim a refund or rebate at your bank or financial institution.

If you are paying at a financial institution and your return requires attached documentation, you will have to send us these documents separately.

Option 3 - using GST/HST NETFILE and TELEFILE
You may be eligible to file your return electronically using GST/HST NETFILE or TELEFILE if you have a four-digit access code printed on the working copy of your personalized GST/HST return and all of the following conditions are met:

• your return has a nil balance or a refund of $10,000 or less;
• your Business Number, name, address, and reporting period printed on your return are correct;
• your return does not include an amount at line 111; and
• you do not need to file a rebate application with your return.

A four-digit access code will be printed on your return if all of the following conditions are met:

• your account has at least a one-year history of filing GST/HST returns;
• your account is not a joint filer;
• your account is not in bankruptcy proceedings; and
• Revenu Québec does not administer your account.
  

Filing nil returns

You have to file a GST/HST return for every reporting period, even if you have no net tax to remit and are not expecting a refund. In other words, even if you have no business transactions in a reporting period, you still have to file a return. Otherwise, you may experience delays in getting refunds for later reporting periods and you can expect to receive a failure to file reminder notice.

How to temporarily stop filing GST/HST returns for specific reporting periods

You may be eligible to stop filing returns for reporting periods during which you have little or no GST/HST to report (for example, if you operate a seasonal or part-time business, or if you are a non-resident who carries on business in Canada only for a short period of time each year).

These reporting periods are called designated reporting periods. To temporarily stop filing GST/HST returns, send us a written request. Once your request is approved, you will not have to file GST/HST returns for all designated reporting periods within a fiscal year, as long as you continue to meet the following criteria:

• you expect that the amount of GST/HST you will charge and other amounts that you must add to your net tax in a reporting period will be $1,000 or less;
• you have met all your obligations with us (Customs, income tax, and GST/HST);
• you did not revoke a designation for reporting periods in the current fiscal year.
  Once approved, a designation for a reporting period may be revoked if you no longer meet the above criteria.

If consecutive reporting periods are to be designated, the total of all the amounts to be added to your net tax for those reporting periods must be $1,000 or less. Any amount owing in a designated reporting period is carried forward to the next reporting period.

You cannot temporarily stop filing GST/HST returns if you are an annual filer or a branch of a registrant, unless the registrant as a whole applies for designated reporting periods.

Submit your GST Registration online