GST and HST in Canada: a quick overview for small businesses
Canada's Goods and Services Tax (GST) is a federal tax of 5% applied to most goods and services. In provinces that have harmonised their provincial sales tax with the GST — Ontario, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, and Prince Edward Island — the combined Harmonised Sales Tax (HST) ranges from 13% to 15%.
Once your business exceeds $30,000 in revenue in any four consecutive calendar quarters, you are required to register for a GST/HST number, collect the tax on taxable sales, and remit the net amount (collected tax minus input tax credits) to the CRA. For most small businesses, remittance is quarterly.
The problem with manual GST/HST tracking
Many small business owners track GST and HST in a spreadsheet or try to reconstruct it from bank statements at the end of the quarter. This approach is error-prone: it's easy to miss a taxable transaction, miscalculate input tax credits, or lose track of whether a particular purchase was tax-deductible.
The CRA expects accurate records. If you're ever audited, you'll need to produce invoices, receipts, and a clear accounting of GST/HST collected and remitted. Manual tracking makes this painful. Software-based tracking makes it straightforward.
How MapleBooks handles GST and HST
MapleBooks uses a configurable tax template system. When you set up your company, you create one or more tax types — for example, "GST (5%)" or "HST Ontario (13%)" — and assign them as the default for your invoices and purchases. From that point:
- Every sales invoice automatically calculates and displays the correct tax amount.
- Every purchase record tracks the GST/HST you paid (your input tax credit).
- At any time, you can generate a tax summary report showing total tax collected, total input tax credits, and your net remittance obligation.
Configurable tax rates
Set up GST, HST, QST, or any combination. MapleBooks applies them to every transaction automatically.
Input tax credit tracking
Record the GST/HST you pay on purchases and deduct it from what you owe the CRA.
One-click tax summary
Generate a remittance summary for any period — quarterly, annually — in seconds.
Audit-ready records
Every invoice and purchase is stored with full tax details the CRA can review if needed.
Canadian tax rates by province (2026)
- Alberta, BC, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, territories: 5% GST only
- Ontario: 13% HST
- Nova Scotia: 15% HST
- New Brunswick, Newfoundland & Labrador, PEI: 15% HST
- Quebec: 5% GST + 9.975% QST (configured separately)
MapleBooks supports all of these — configure whichever rates apply to your province and your customers.
Pricing
MapleBooks is a one-time purchase — no monthly subscription. Pay once and use it as long as you need.