What GST/HST do I charge?
The rate follows the place of supply: generally where your customer is, not where you are: and whether a provincial retail tax applies depends on what you sell.
Behind the numbers.
Canada charges federal tax on almost every supply, and then some provinces add their own. Five provinces fold both into a single harmonized rate (HST); three run a separate provincial retail tax alongside the federal one; Quebec runs QST at 9.975% through Revenu Québec rather than the CRA; and Alberta and the three territories charge the federal 5% only.
Two things decide the answer. Place of supply generally puts the rate where your customer is: a supplier in Alberta selling to Ontario charges 13% HST, not 5%. And what you sell decides the provincial half: BC, Saskatchewan and Manitoba tax goods but leave most services outside their retail tax, so a service invoice in BC carries GST alone.
Zero-rated and exempt look the same on an invoice and are not the same thing. Zero-rated supplies are taxable at 0%, so you still recover the tax you paid on your own costs. Exempt supplies carry no tax and no input tax credits: the tax you paid to make them is yours to absorb.
Clear books. A clearer head.
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