Charge tax as usual
Bill customers the full GST or HST rate on every taxable sale, exactly as you would under the regular method.
Free calculator · 2026 CRA rates
GST/HST Quick Method Calculator for Canadian incorporated service businesses (2026)
Compare the CRA's GST/HST Quick Method against the regular method for your Canadian small business. Plug in annual revenue, GST/HST-bearing expenses and province, and see your after-tax remittance savings instantly.
To use this tool, accept the usage checkbox in the form above.
Heads up: revenue including GST/HST exceeds $400,000. The Quick Method is no longer available for this fiscal year.
Regular method
Winner- HST collected
- $0
- Input Tax Credits
- $0
- Net to CRA
- $0
Quick Method
Winner- Remittance rate
- 8.8%
- 1% credit applied
- $0
- Net to CRA
- $0
Annual difference (after corporate tax) Quick Method, estimated savings
Pre-tax: $0 · Corp tax (SBD ON): 11.2%
$0
The gap is small. The Quick Method election (form GST74) has to be filed before the deadline of your first reporting period using it, so locking in for a year may not be worth it for marginal savings. Worth a deeper review with us.
For information purposes only, not tax advice. Service-business rates apply when eligible supplies are made through a permanent establishment in the selected province with customers located there. Quick Method excludes capital purchase ITCs from this view; PST in BC, SK, and MB is handled separately. Corporate tax assumes the small business deduction (SBD) applies and active business income is below the $500,000 federal limit. Rates per CRA RC4058 and 2026 federal/provincial SBD schedules.
How the Quick Method works
Charge full tax on sales, remit a flat slice, keep the spread.
Four mechanics that make the Quick Method either a win or a wash, depending on your expense profile.
Remit a flat slice
Send the CRA a fixed Quick Method rate applied to your GST/HST-included revenue. The rate is lower than what you collected, so you keep the spread.
Skip operating ITCs
Give up Input Tax Credits on operating expenses (capital-purchase ITCs are still claimable). Service businesses with low taxable expenses come out ahead.
Pocket the 1% bonus
Claim an extra 1% credit on the first $30,000 of GST/HST-included eligible supplies each fiscal year. Small but free money.
Before you elect
Eligibility and how the election works.
The Quick Method is a CRA election, not a year-end choice. Two things to check before you commit: are you eligible, and can you file the form on time.
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Eligibility, briefly
- Only worth it if your sales are taxable. If most of your sales are zero-rated (most exports, basic groceries), you collect $0 from customers and would lose your ITCs under Quick, so the regular method usually wins.
- Revenue (including GST/HST) of $400,000 or less in the current fiscal year.
- You must have been registered for GST/HST for at least 365 days before the start of the period in which you elect.
- Some businesses are excluded: financial services, accounting, bookkeeping, legal advice, tax preparation, and listed financial institutions.
- Different rates apply to retailers and wholesalers buying goods for resale. This calculator assumes a service business.
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How the election works
You don't pick the Quick Method when you file. You elect it in advance using form GST74 or through your CRA online account, which the CRA must receive on or before the due date of the GST/HST return for the first reporting period in which you'll use the method.
- Annual filer: elect by the return due date (3 months after fiscal year-end).
- Quarterly or monthly filer: elect by the due date of the return for the first quarter (or month) in which you start using it.
- Once elected, the method stays in effect for at least one full year. Revoke later with the same form GST74.
- Switching mid-period without an election in place means the method does not apply that period, even if it would have saved money.
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