Non-Resident Provincial Sales Tax Registration Calculator
GST/HST registration does not cover Quebec, British Columbia, Saskatchewan or Manitoba. Each runs its own tax with its own threshold, and Saskatchewan has none at all. Work out where you should already be registered.
historical exposure
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Province by Province
| Jurisdiction | Rate | Threshold | Your Sales | Register |
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Historical Exposure
| Jurisdiction | Basis | Should Have Collected |
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Cost of Getting Compliant
| Item | Basis | Annual |
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Points That Decide This
What to Do Next
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Disclaimer: GST/HST is administered federally and registration is generally required once worldwide taxable supplies made in Canada exceed CAD 30,000 over four consecutive calendar quarters, with a separate simplified registration regime applying to certain non-resident vendors and distribution platform operators supplying digital products and services to Canadian consumers. Quebec administers the Quebec Sales Tax at 9.975% and requires registration by certain non-resident suppliers under a specified registration system, with a CAD 30,000 threshold for suppliers without a physical or significant presence in Quebec. British Columbia imposes PST at 7% and requires registration by businesses located outside British Columbia that sell taxable goods, software or telecommunication services to BC customers where BC revenues exceed CAD 10,000. Saskatchewan imposes PST at 6% and requires out-of-province vendors making retail sales into Saskatchewan to register, with no small-supplier threshold. Manitoba imposes RST at 7% and requires registration by out-of-province sellers where Manitoba revenue exceeds CAD 10,000. Rates, thresholds and rules differ by the type of supply and each province applies its own exemptions, and marketplace facilitator rules may shift the collection obligation to the platform in some circumstances. Alberta and the territories impose no provincial sales tax, and the HST provinces are covered by federal registration. Historical exposure shown is the tax that should have been collected and does not include penalties or interest, which each jurisdiction assesses on its own basis. Whether any particular supply is taxable in a given province requires a specific determination. This page is general information, not tax advice.
Four Provinces Run Their Own Tax
Sellers register for GST/HST, get a business number, and assume Canada is handled. It is not. Four provinces administer their own sales tax entirely outside the federal system, with their own registrations, returns and rules.
| Jurisdiction | Tax | Rate | Registration Threshold |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quebec | QST | 9.975% | CAD 30,000 |
| British Columbia | PST | 7% | CAD 10,000 |
| Saskatchewan | PST | 6% | None |
| Manitoba | RST | 7% | CAD 10,000 |
Saskatchewan has no small-supplier threshold. One retail sale into the province can create a registration obligation. It is the smallest of the four by population and the most aggressive on this point, and it is the one that catches sellers who assumed a modest volume was safe.
Alberta and the HST Provinces Are Fine
To be clear about where the problem is not. Alberta and the three territories have no provincial sales tax at all. Ontario, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island use HST, which your federal registration covers.
So the exposure is confined to four jurisdictions, and for most sellers the meaningful ones are Quebec and British Columbia by volume.
Software and Digital Services Are Caught
Sellers of physical goods generally expect sales tax. Software companies frequently do not, and all four provinces tax software and, in various ways, digital and telecommunication services.
A SaaS business in Texas billing Canadian subscribers monthly has a QST obligation once Quebec revenue passes thirty thousand dollars, and a BC PST obligation past ten thousand. Nothing in their federal registration tells them this.
Subscription businesses cross these thresholds quietly. Ten thousand dollars of British Columbia revenue is a few dozen small subscribers. There is no moment where anything obviously changes, which is why the discovery usually comes years in.
Inventory in Canada Changes Everything
Where you hold inventory in a Canadian warehouse or fulfilment centre, the analysis becomes materially different across all of these regimes, and it can also raise income tax questions about a permanent establishment.
Sellers using third-party fulfilment often do not know which provinces their stock sits in, because the platform moves it. That is worth establishing rather than assuming, since the location of your inventory is a fact you are responsible for even when someone else chose it.
Marketplaces May Collect for You
Where sales run through a marketplace, the platform may be required to collect and remit, which can remove the obligation on those sales. It rarely removes it entirely.
- Direct sales from your own site stay your obligation regardless
- Different platforms handle different provinces differently
- Holding inventory can create obligations independent of the sales channel
- The rules differ by province, so a platform covering one may not cover another
A seller with both channels usually still needs to register, because the direct sales are theirs alone. Assuming the marketplace has handled everything is a common and expensive error.
The Exposure Is Tax You Never Charged
This is what makes provincial sales tax worse than an income tax problem. Where you should have collected and did not, the province assesses you for it, and the customer is long gone.
On a hundred and eighty thousand dollars of Quebec sales, QST at 9.975 percent is nearly eighteen thousand dollars a year. Two years of that is a real number, and there is no realistic prospect of going back to invoice past customers for it.
Registering going forward is cheap. The history is the expensive part. Every month you continue selling without registering adds tax you will pay out of margin rather than collect from customers, so the case for acting now is arithmetic rather than caution.
Voluntary Disclosure Exists in Each Province
Each of these jurisdictions operates some form of voluntary disclosure, and coming forward before they contact you generally produces a materially better outcome on penalties.
They are separate programs with separate rules, so a disclosure in Quebec does nothing for British Columbia. Where several provinces are involved, they should be handled in parallel rather than one at a time.
What This Calculator Does Not Cover
- Whether your specific supply is taxable in each province, which needs a determination
- Provincial exemptions, which differ in every jurisdiction
- Penalties and interest, assessed separately by each province
- Income tax and permanent establishment, which is a separate question
- Customs and import duties on physical goods
- The federal simplified registration regime for digital suppliers
Start with the province where the exposure is largest. Our sales tax registration service covers the federal registration, the provincial ones and the disclosure applications.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions on provincial sales tax for non-resident sellers.
Related Calculators and Guides
More tools for cross-border sellers.
Register Forward, Then Deal With the History
Send us your sales by province and how they are made. We will confirm where you are required to register, handle each application, and prepare disclosure applications in parallel where the history needs it.