The $30,000 HST registration threshold: how the test actually works

The short answer

You stop being a "small supplier" — and must register for GST/HST — the moment your worldwide taxable-supply revenue passes $30,000 in a single calendar quarter, or the moment it passes $30,000 added up across four consecutive calendar quarters. Which one applies changes your deadline: crossing it in one quarter makes you a registrant immediately, on the sale that did it. Crossing it only across four quarters gives you until the end of the following month. Either way, once you've crossed, you have 29 days to actually register.

Two ways to cross the same line

The CRA's small-supplier test isn't one rule — it's two, and they behave differently. A person is a small supplier (not required to register) only if both conditions hold: $30,000 or less in a single calendar quarter, and $30,000 or less across the last four consecutive calendar quarters combined. Fail either one and small-supplier status ends.

Test 1 — one quarter does it alone

If a single calendar quarter's taxable supplies exceed $30,000, you become a registrant immediately — specifically, on the particular supply that pushed you over. There's no "you have until month-end" cushion here. The invoice that crosses $30,000 is the one where registrant status technically begins.

Test 2 — four quarters, added together

If no single quarter breaks $30,000 but four consecutive quarters combined do, small- supplier status ends at the end of the month following that four-quarter period. This is the slower-moving version of the test, and it's the one that catches people off guard — steady, moderate growth can cross it without any one quarter looking dramatic.

Worked examples

These are hypothetical revenue patterns to illustrate the mechanics — not projections or typical outcomes for any real business.

Notice the "steady growth" row: none of those four quarters looks alarming on its own, which is exactly why Test 2 is the one worth tracking on a rolling basis rather than checking once a year.

The 29-day window

Once you've ceased to be a small supplier — under either test — you must register for a GST/HST account within 29 days of the day that happened. For Test 1, the clock starts on the date of the sale that crossed $30,000. For Test 2, it starts on the date small- supplier status legally ended (end of the month following the four-quarter period). Miss the window and you're still on the hook for HST on supplies made after you should have registered — waiting doesn't reduce the obligation, it just adds paperwork.

What changes once you're registered

Registration isn't just a status flag — it resets how you file. The CRA assigns your reporting period by annual taxable-supply revenue: $1,500,000 or less gets annual filing (with monthly or quarterly optional), more than $1,500,000 up to $6,000,000 gets quarterly (monthly optional), and more than $6,000,000 is monthly with no option. Most businesses newly crossing the small-supplier threshold land in the annual or quarterly band.

One more mechanical detail that trips people up: GST/HST returns for reporting periods ending in 2024 or later must be filed electronically. Paper filing is gone outside a narrow exemption for charities and selected listed financial institutions — so factor e-filing setup into your registration to-do list, not an afterthought.

From here it's mostly routine: charge HST on your taxable supplies going forward, track input tax credits, and file on whatever schedule the CRA assigned. If that sounds like one more system to maintain on top of running the business, it's the kind of thing that gets folded into monthly bookkeeping rather than handled as a separate project — ours starts at $200/month, with HST filings included in the fee.

Track the number before it tracks you

The practical takeaway: don't wait for an annual glance at your books to find out you crossed $30,000 three quarters ago. Test 1 gives you zero warning — registrant status starts on the sale itself. Test 2 gives you a bit more room, but only if you're actually watching the rolling four-quarter total rather than each quarter in isolation.