How to File Your GST/HST Return in Canada (2026)

Quick answer: to file a GST/HST return in Canada you report the GST/HST you collected, subtract your input tax credits (ITCs) on business purchases, and remit the difference to the CRA, almost always online through a CRA business account or GST/HST NETFILE. As of October 2026, quarterly filers' July–September 2026 return and payment are due October 31, a Saturday, so the CRA counts anything it receives by Monday, November 2 as on time. The bigger money question is how you calculate it: the regular method (track every ITC) or the Quick Method (a flat remittance rate), which for an Ontario service business means remitting 8.8% of your HST-included revenue instead of the 13% you collect.

Last verified October 2026: deadlines, rates and thresholds below were checked against canada.ca on October 7, 2026 (pages listed under Sources).

(This is the downstream companion to our $30,000 registration threshold guide. That post answers whether and when you have to register; this one answers what you do once you are registered and a return is due.)

Deadlines as of October 2026

The CRA sets your deadline by your reporting period. When a due date falls on a Saturday, Sunday or a public holiday the CRA recognizes, your return or payment is on time if the CRA receives it on the next business day (Canada Revenue Agency). Two of the next three dates land on a weekend:

Who	Period	Due date	Counts as on time if received by
Quarterly filers	July–September 2026	October 31, 2026 (Saturday)	Monday, November 2, 2026
Quarterly filers	October–December 2026	January 31, 2027 (Sunday)	Monday, February 1, 2027
Annual filers: sole proprietors with a December 31 year-end	2026	Pay April 30, 2027; file June 15, 2027	Same dates (both are weekdays)

If you pay late, the CRA charges interest on overdue GST/HST at its prescribed rate, which is 7% for October 1 to December 31, 2026 (Canada Revenue Agency). The rate resets each quarter. A late-filed return can also be penalized, so file on time even if you can't pay the full amount.

What "filing a GST/HST return" actually is

A GST/HST return is a short reconciliation. Over your reporting period you did two things: you charged tax on your sales, and you paid tax on some of your business purchases. The return nets them:

• GST/HST you collected on sales (line 105 on the return).
• Minus your input tax credits: the GST/HST you paid on eligible business expenses (line 108).
• Equals your net tax: what you send the CRA, or, if your ITCs were larger, a refund.

The one thing to internalise: the tax you collected was never your money. It is the CRA's money, sitting with you on its way to Ottawa. Treat it as revenue and filing becomes a shock; treat it as money held in trust and filing becomes a transfer you already had set aside.

The five steps to file

• 1. Total up the GST/HST you collected across the period.
• 2. Total up your ITCs: the recoverable tax on your business purchases (regular method only; the Quick Method handles this differently, below).
• 3. Calculate your net tax: collected minus ITCs, or the Quick Method formula.
• 4. File online. Almost every registrant must file electronically. The two routes freelancers use most are your CRA business account (My Business Account), which has GST/HST NETFILE built in, or the standalone GST/HST NETFILE form, which needs an access code. (TELEFILE and paper still exist, but paper filing carries a penalty for most businesses.)
• 5. Remit by the deadline tied to your reporting period. You can file even if you owe; just make sure the payment lands on time.

The decision that actually moves money: regular vs Quick Method

This is the part most "how to file" articles skip, and the one worth real attention.

The regular method

You remit exactly what you collected, minus every input tax credit you can document. Net tax = GST/HST collected − ITCs. If you have significant business costs (inventory, subcontractors, equipment, software), your ITCs are large and you remit less. The cost: you have to track every ITC, keep every receipt, and be able to support it if the CRA asks.

The Quick Method

Instead of tracking ITCs on day-to-day costs, you remit a flat percentage of your GST/HST-included sales. The rate is set below what you charged, and the gap is the CRA's built-in estimate of the ITCs you would otherwise have claimed. You still charge customers the normal GST/HST; you just remit less of it.

For a service business with a permanent establishment in Ontario, the Quick Method remittance rate is 8.8% of your HST-included sales, against the 13% HST you collected. The Quick Method also gives you a 1% credit on the first $30,000 of eligible supplies each fiscal year. You can still claim ITCs on capital purchases (a laptop, a camera), just not on everyday operating costs.

A worked example (estimate, not advice)

Say you're an Ontario consultant. Over the year you bill $100,000 and add 13% HST, so you collect $13,000 in HST. Your clients pay you $113,000 in total, which is your "GST/HST-included sales."

	Regular method	Quick Method
HST collected	$13,000	$13,000 (you still collect it)
Remittance calculation	$13,000 − your actual ITCs	8.8% × $113,000 = $9,944
Minus 1% credit on first $30,000	—	− $300
Roughly what you remit	$13,000 − ITCs (e.g. $11,800 if ITCs ≈ $1,200)	≈ $9,644

In this example the Quick Method leaves roughly $2,000 more in the business, because a lean service business doesn't have enough ITC-eligible costs to beat the flat rate. Flip the numbers (heavy equipment, inventory, big subcontractor bills) and the regular method wins. The rule of thumb: the Quick Method favours low-expense service businesses; the regular method favours high-expense ones. To see which way your numbers fall, and the ITC break-even, run them through our GST/HST Quick Method calculator. These are estimates to frame the decision, not tax advice; the exact break-even depends on your costs, so it's worth a conversation with an accountant before you elect.

Are you eligible for the Quick Method?

You can elect the Quick Method if your revenues (including the GST/HST) from annual worldwide taxable supplies, yours and your associates', are not more than $400,000. Some businesses are excluded, including people who provide bookkeeping, financial consulting, tax consulting or tax return preparation services, and those providing legal, accounting or actuarial services. You have to elect the Quick Method with the CRA before it applies; it isn't automatic.

Still deciding whether you need to register? Our free GST/HST registration checker handles that. One change worth knowing: since July 14, 2026, Business Registration Online, the CRA service for registering a business number and program accounts such as GST/HST, is only accessible by signing in to a CRA account (Canada Revenue Agency). For which rate to charge, see clients in another province, the rate-by-province tool, and our guide to charging GST/HST to US and other foreign clients.

A quick word on ITCs (for the regular method)

Input tax credits let you recover the GST/HST you paid on purchases used to run your business: software, equipment, professional fees, supplies, a share of home-office and vehicle costs. On a regular-method return you subtract your total ITCs from what you collected, so you only remit the net. Tracking them day to day is covered in our HST/GST tracking guide. The rule that matters at filing time: keep the receipts that show the tax paid, because the CRA can ask you to support every ITC you claim.

Your filing period and deadline

The CRA assigns a default reporting period based on your annual taxable supplies:

Annual taxable supplies	Assigned reporting period
$1,500,000 or less	Annual
More than $1,500,000 up to $6,000,000	Quarterly
More than $6,000,000	Monthly

Most freelancers land in the first row and file annually, though you can ask the CRA for a more frequent period if you'd rather remit in smaller pieces. Your deadline follows your period:

• Monthly and quarterly filers: file and pay one month after the period ends. (A quarter ending September 30 is due October 31.)
• Most annual filers: file and pay three months after your fiscal year-end.
• Sole proprietors with a December 31 year-end and business income: pay by April 30, file by June 15.

You still have to file if you had no activity or owe nothing (a "nil return"), and you must file even when you can't pay in full, so a late-filing penalty isn't added to the interest.

Where your filing figure should already be sitting

GST/HST filing rarely feels stressful because of the arithmetic. It feels stressful when the money you collected got spent as if it were income. VRITTI is a Canadian iOS app for self-employed people that keeps the GST/HST you collect in its own bucket, separate from income tax, so your filing figure is already there when the return is due.

VRITTI is coming soon. VRITTI sets this aside for your province as income lands: join the waitlist for an early spot. In the meantime, our tax set-aside calculator shows how much to park as you go, and self-employed taxes in Canada puts GST/HST alongside income tax and CPP.

The one-paragraph version

Filing a GST/HST return means reporting what you collected, subtracting your ITCs, and remitting the net to the CRA online. The decision worth thinking about is the method: regular (track every ITC) or Quick (a flat rate, 8.8% of HST-included sales for an Ontario service business, plus a 1% credit on the first $30,000). As of October 2026, the July–September quarter is due October 31, and November 2 counts as on time; overdue amounts are charged interest at 7% for the rest of 2026. Keep the tax you collect apart from day one, and the return stops being a scramble.

Sources

• Government of Canada — 2026 tax deadlines for businesses and self-employed individuals (quarterly GST/HST due October 31, 2026 and January 31, 2027; annual sole-proprietor dates April 30 and June 15, 2027; weekend and holiday rule).
• CRA — Reporting requirements and deadlines (one month after the period for monthly and quarterly filers; three months for annual filers; sole-proprietor April 30 / June 15 rule; next-business-day rule).
• CRA — Prescribed interest rates, fourth calendar quarter 2026 (7% on overdue GST/HST remittances, October 1–December 31, 2026).
• CRA — Quick Method of Accounting for GST/HST (RC4058) (8.8% Ontario service rate; 1% credit on the first $30,000; $400,000 eligibility limit; excluded businesses).
• CRA — File your GST/HST return and How to file (mandatory electronic filing; My Business Account and GST/HST NETFILE).
• CRA — Reporting period options (default reporting period by annual taxable supplies: $1,500,000 / $6,000,000).
• CRA — Changes to how you access Business Registration Online (CRA-account sign-in required from July 14, 2026).
• CRA — General Information for GST/HST Registrants (RC4022) (input tax credits).

This article explains CRA rules in plain language and offers an estimate, not advice for your specific situation. Last verified October 2026: rates, thresholds and deadlines were checked against the canada.ca pages above on October 7, 2026.