GST/HST Filing Frequency and Due Dates for the Self-Employed

Once you are registered for the GST/HST, you file a return for every reporting period the CRA assigns you, even when you made no sales and have no net tax to remit. Missing a deadline can mean penalties and interest. This cheat sheet covers how the CRA picks monthly, quarterly or annual filing, the payment and filing dates that go with each, the sole-proprietor exception that moves many freelancers to April 30 and June 15, when instalments kick in, and how Quebec QST periods usually line up.

General information based on CRA and Revenu Québec pages checked on November 6, 2026. Not tax advice; confirm your own due dates in My Business Account or Revenu Québec online services and ask your accountant about your situation.

How the CRA assigns your reporting period

Your default GST/HST reporting period is based on your annual taxable supplies in Canada in the previous fiscal year. The CRA publishes these assigned bands:

When you add up annual taxable supplies, include zero-rated supplies made in Canada and the taxable supplies of your associates. Do not include supplies made outside Canada, zero-rated exports, zero-rated financial services, exempt supplies, taxable sales of capital real property, or supplies of goodwill.

Most freelancers and sole proprietors sit well under $1.5 million, so annual filing is the default. You can still elect to file more often. An annual filer can elect monthly or quarterly; a quarterly filer can elect monthly. Do that online in My Business Account or with Form GST20. Your period does not automatically drop to a less frequent schedule when revenue falls: you keep the previously assigned period until you file an election after the thresholds allow it. See the CRA page on changing your GST/HST account.

If you are not sure whether you even need to be registered, start with the small supplier calculator and the GST/QST guide for self-employed workers in Quebec.

Due dates cheat sheet

The CRA sets filing and payment deadlines from your reporting period. If a due date falls on a Saturday, Sunday or a public holiday recognized by the CRA, the return or payment is on time when the CRA receives it on the next business day.

Examples from the CRA: a monthly period ending July 31 is due August 31; a quarterly period ending March 31 is due April 30. You must still file a nil return when there was no activity.

Concrete 2027 dates for Dec 31 self-employed annual filers

The CRA's 2027 tax-deadlines fact sheet for small businesses and self-employed individuals states that annual GST/HST filers who are self-employed with a December 31 fiscal year-end pay by April 30, 2027 and file by June 15, 2027. Monthly and quarterly filers still file and pay one month after each period ends.

The sole-proprietor exception in plain language

Many self-employed registrants file annually with a December 31 year-end. The CRA gives those filers a later filing date only when all three of these are true:

• You are an individual with a business (a sole proprietor).
• Your GST/HST fiscal year-end is December 31.
• You had business income for tax purposes for that year.

Meet all three and you pay any balance by April 30 and file the return by June 15. Miss any one of them and both filing and payment fall back to three months after year-end (March 31 for a December 31 year-end). A corporation with a December 31 year-end always uses March 31 for both. Listed financial institutions can have a six-month deadline; that is outside the usual freelancer case.

Electronic filing is mandatory

For reporting periods ending in 2024 and later, almost every GST/HST registrant must file electronically. Charities and selected listed financial institutions are the main exceptions. Paper returns attract a penalty. You can still file electronically when you owe money; pay separately through the CRA's payment options. Details live on the CRA reporting requirements and deadlines page and in RC4022.

Instalments for annual filers

Filing once a year does not always mean paying once a year. If you are an annual filer and your net tax for the previous fiscal year was $3,000 or more, you generally must make quarterly instalment payments in the current year. Each instalment is due within one month after the end of the fiscal quarter. For a December 31 year-end the CRA lists these instalment due dates:

My Business Account has an instalment payment calculator. Paying instalments on time avoids interest on the instalment base even when your final return still needs a top-up or a refund.

Quebec: QST periods usually match GST/HST

If you operate in Quebec, Revenu Québec administers both the QST and, for most registrants, the GST/HST. You must have the same fiscal year under GST/HST and QST so the two filing frequencies stay identical. Revenu Québec assigns the same revenue bands as the CRA: annual at $1.5 million or less (with or without instalments), quarterly above $1.5 million up to $6 million, and monthly above $6 million. Monthly and quarterly returns are due no later than one month after the period ends; annual returns are generally due no later than three months after the period ends. An individual registrant with business income (other than property income), an annual frequency and a December 31 fiscal year-end may file by June 15 of the following year, but must remit by April 30. Annual filers generally pay four quarterly instalments when net GST/HST expected this year or paid last year is $3,000 or more; the same $3,000 rule applies separately to QST, so QST instalments can be required even when GST/HST are not. Instalments are due by the last day of the month following each quarter. You can elect a more frequent schedule with Form FP-2620-V (or online) and normally keep the chosen frequency for at least one year: annual filers may elect monthly or quarterly, and quarterly filers may elect monthly. Charities may choose their frequency freely; garment manufacturers must file monthly QST returns.

Keep invoice records that match your period

Whatever frequency you file on, your invoices are the source documents for sales, tax collected and input tax credits. Grouping them by reporting period makes the return faster and reduces accountant back-and-forth. Use the quarterly GST/HST invoice records guide even if you file annually: the same habit works month by month or year by year. Quebec filers can also hand an accountant a clean GST/QST invoice report. Before you claim credits, verify supplier GST/HST and QST numbers, and keep invoices that meet the tax invoice requirements.

A free Just Invoice account saves your business, clients and items with no cap, and gives you unlimited drafts and PDFs. The only free-plan limit is three invoices or estimates emailed per month. Receipts stay free. Create one at /register, or make a one-off PDF with the free invoice generator without signing in.

Official sources

• CRA: Reporting requirements and deadlines
• CRA: Make changes to your GST/HST account (reporting periods)
• CRA: Remit the GST/HST by instalments
• CRA: When to pay instalments
• CRA: General information for GST/HST registrants (RC4022)
• CRA: 2027 tax deadlines for businesses and self-employed individuals
• Revenu Québec: Filing Frequency
• Revenu Québec: Changing your filing frequency
• Revenu Québec: GST/HST and QST Instalments

Frequently asked questions