GST/HST Quick Method calculator
Enter a year of sales and the GST/HST you paid. See what you would send the CRA under the regular method and under the Quick Method, and which is lower.
- Rates from
- CRA guide RC4058
- Covers
- Every province but Quebec
The Quick Method costs $1,490.40 less.
- HST you charged (13%)
- $11,700.00
- Regular method: you send
- $10,140.00
- Sales with tax × 8.8%
- $8,949.60
- Less the 1% credit
- −$300.00
- Quick Method: you send
- $8,649.60
For a business that sells in its own province. A negative amount is a refund. The goods rate needs your purchases of goods for resale, tax included, to be at least 40% of your sales, tax included, last year.
Sources: the CRA’s RC4058, Quick Method of Accounting for GST/HST (rates and rules, checked October 2026). The sums are the same ones Spark Books uses to prepare your return.
How the Quick Method works
You charge your customers GST or HST as usual. At filing time, instead of subtracting the tax you paid on every purchase, you multiply your sales including tax by a fixed rate and send that. In Ontario a service business sends 8.8% of its HST-included sales and keeps the rest of the 13% it charged.
Then take off the 1% credit on the first $30,000 of the year’s sales, and any GST/HST you paid on capital purchases like a truck, a computer or equipment. Those input tax credits are still allowed.
The rate is lower for a business that mostly resells goods: one whose purchases of goods for resale, tax included, were at least 40% of its sales, tax included, in the previous year. Everyone else uses the services rate.
You can use it if your taxable sales, tax included and counting associated businesses, are $400,000 a year or less. Bookkeepers, tax preparers, financial and tax consultants, lawyers, accountants and actuaries can’t. You elect in My Business Account or on form GST74. The full rules are in our guide to the Quick Method.
Quick Method rates for selling in your own province
| Business in | Services | Goods for resale |
|---|---|---|
| Alberta (5%) | 3.6% | 1.8% |
| British Columbia (5%) | 3.6% | 1.8% |
| Manitoba (5%) | 3.6% | 1.8% |
| New Brunswick (15%) | 10% | 5% |
| Newfoundland and Labrador (15%) | 10% | 5% |
| Nova Scotia (14%) | 9.4% | 4.7% |
| Northwest Territories (5%) | 3.6% | 1.8% |
| Nunavut (5%) | 3.6% | 1.8% |
| Ontario (13%) | 8.8% | 4.4% |
| Prince Edward Island (15%) | 10% | 5% |
| Saskatchewan (5%) | 3.6% | 1.8% |
| Yukon (5%) | 3.6% | 1.8% |
Sales into another province use a different rate. RC4058 has the full table.
Questions
- Should I use the Quick Method?
- Use it if it means sending less tax. That usually happens when your expenses are low compared with your sales, like a consultant or a trade doing mostly labour. If you buy a lot of taxable supplies or stock, the regular method usually wins because you claim back all the GST/HST you paid. Put your own numbers in the calculator above.
- What is the difference between the Quick Method and the regular method?
- Under the regular method you send the CRA the GST/HST you charged, minus the GST/HST you paid on business purchases (input tax credits). Under the Quick Method you send a fixed percentage of your sales including tax, and you don't claim input tax credits on day-to-day expenses or stock. You still charge customers the full GST/HST either way.
- Who can't use the Quick Method?
- Businesses with more than $400,000 a year of taxable sales, tax included, counting associated businesses. Also anyone providing bookkeeping, financial consulting, tax consulting or tax return preparation services, lawyers, accountants and actuaries in professional practice, listed financial institutions, charities and public institutions.
- What is the 1% credit?
- Under the Quick Method you get a credit of 1% on the first $30,000 of eligible sales, tax included, in each fiscal year. That is up to $300 a year. The election has to be in effect at the start of the fiscal year, or on the day you registered if you're new. Unused credit doesn't carry forward.
- Can I claim input tax credits on the Quick Method?
- Yes, on capital purchases only: buildings and land, and equipment like computers and vehicles. Not on operating expenses or goods you resell. The remittance rate already allows for those.
- Do I still need to keep receipts on the Quick Method?
- Yes. RC4058 says you still keep all your books and records for your purchases and sales for six years from the end of the year they relate to.
Filing soon? Find your GST/HST due date.
See both methods on your real books
Upload your bank statements and Spark Books prepares your GST/HST return figures under the regular method or the Quick Method. You or your accountant file. Free.
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