Canada VAT registration threshold

What this value means

PERIOD BASIS: 'Small supplier' test over the FOUR CALENDAR QUARTERS immediately preceding the quarter in question (rolling by quarter, not 12 months and not calendar year), plus a second limb: exceeding C$30,000 within a SINGLE calendar quarter ends small-supplier status immediately from the supply that crosses the line. Registration required under ETA s 240(1) once no longer a small supplier. SECOND LIMB: Single-quarter limb (s 148(2)): if consideration for taxable supplies in one calendar quarter itself exceeds C$30,000 (C$50,000 for public service bodies), small-supplier status is lost immediately — no waiting for the four-quarter total. NON-ESTABLISHED SUPPLIERS: No special exemption: a non-resident 'carrying on business in Canada' faces the same C$30,000 small-supplier test (ETA ss 148, 240(1)). Non-residents NOT carrying on business in Canada but supplying digital products/services or short-term accommodation to Canadian consumers fall under the separate simplified regime (Subdivision E, s 211.12): required to register "if the threshold amount of the person for any period of 12 months (other than a period that begins before July 2021) that includes that time exceeds $30,000" — quoted from s 211.12 as read this session; in force 1 July 2021 (2021, c. 23, s. 107). That threshold counts only supplies to unregistered Canadian recipients. IMPORTED DIGITAL SERVICES: Separate simplified GST/HST registration (ETA Subdivision E, ss 211.1-211.14, from 1 July 2021) for specified non-resident suppliers of digital products/services, distribution platform operators and accommodation platform operators: own C$30,000/rolling-12-month threshold (s 211.12, quoted above) counting only supplies to consumers (unregistered persons) in Canada; pay-only registration, no input tax credits. A foreign SaaS seller under the federal radar must also check Quebec QST (mandatory since 1 Jan 2019) and provincial sales taxes (BC, SK, MB) which have their own registration rules and thresholds. Engine traps: (1) the four-quarter test aggregates supplies of the person AND associates (s 148(1)), so group companies cannot split turnover. (2) The single-quarter limb ends small-supplier status IMMEDIATELY mid-quarter. (3) Public service bodies use C$50,000; charities/public institutions also escape via the C$250,000 gross-revenue test (s 148.1). (4) Taxi and commercial ride-sharing operators must register regardless of turnover (s 240(1.1)). (5) After crossing the four-quarter threshold there is a one-month grace: the person remains a small supplier for the month following the four-quarter period (s 148(1)(a)). (6) The C$30,000 figure has been unchanged since GST inception (1 Jan 1991). (7) Simplified-regime registrants who become required to register normally must convert to full registration. Researched against the primary instrument and then attacked by an independent adversarial verification pass before being served (2026-08-08). Where that pass refuted a citation, the correction it proved has been applied; no headline threshold was refuted.

Get it programmatically

curl https://usaref.dev/v1/ca/vat-registration-threshold
# $0.005 per call — x402 on Base (USDC). No key, no signup.
# History:    curl https://usaref.dev/v1/ca/vat-registration-threshold/history?from=2020-01-01
# Provenance: curl https://usaref.dev/provenance/ca/vat-registration-threshold

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