Change your GST/HST reporting period in Canada: the $1.5 million and $6 million thresholds that assign annual, quarterly, or monthly filing, electing to file more often on Form GST20 or in My Business Account, and moving to a less frequent period after 12 months below the threshold.
Applies in: across Canada
Your GST/HST filing frequency is assigned from your threshold amount, you can always elect to file more often, and you can elect to file less often only after 12 months below the threshold. At $1,500,000 or less in annual taxable supplies made in Canada, the Canada Revenue Agency generally assigns an annual reporting period. From more than $1,500,000 up to $6,000,000 it assigns quarterly. Above $6,000,000 it assigns monthly, with no optional period. To change the assigned period, file an election through My Business Account or Represent a Client, or send Form GST20 to your tax centre. The period does not change itself when revenue rises or falls: exceeding a threshold moves you up, but falling below one leaves you on the old period until you elect down.
The threshold amount is not total revenue, and getting it wrong is the most common reason an election is filed for the wrong period. Start with revenue from taxable supplies of property and services made in Canada in your immediately preceding fiscal year, or in all preceding fiscal quarters ending in that fiscal year. Include zero-rated supplies of property and services made in Canada, and include the taxable supplies of your associates, since the CRA counts the associated group together. Then exclude supplies made outside Canada, zero-rated exports of property and services, zero-rated supplies of financial services, exempt supplies, taxable sales of capital real property, and supplies of goodwill. A business with large export sales and modest Canadian sales can therefore sit well below the threshold its total revenue suggests, while a business in an associated group can sit above it on group revenue alone.
New registrants are assigned a period at registration, generally the annual period, which remains until an election changes it or the threshold amount exceeds the maximum for that period. If you are already registered, My Business Account shows the reporting period the CRA currently holds, and that record, not your own calculation, is the starting point for the election. Run the calculation, then check it against the CRA record before filing anything.
The CRA chart is short, and it is worth quoting exactly because every other step in this guide refers back to it. Annual taxable supplies of $1,500,000 or less are assigned an annual reporting period, with monthly and quarterly as optional periods. Annual taxable supplies of more than $1,500,000 up to $6,000,000 are assigned a quarterly reporting period, with monthly as the optional period. Annual taxable supplies of more than $6,000,000 are assigned a monthly reporting period, with no optional period. Charities are assigned an annual period, as are listed financial institutions other than corporations deemed to be listed financial institutions because they elected to have certain taxable supplies deemed to be financial services.
The assigned period applies to all of your branches and divisions, which keep the same reporting period as the parent company even where they file separate returns. It also applies across the fiscal year: the period assigned for the year is the period you file on for that year, subject to an election or to exceeding a threshold mid-year, which the GST20 rules handle by moving the filer to the more frequent period from the start of the fiscal quarter in which the threshold is exceeded. Do not assume a mid-year revenue surge can wait until year-end: check the GST20 effective-date rules when revenue crosses a threshold during the year.
Moving to a more frequent period is the easy direction, and the usual reason is cash flow in the business's favour. A business that regularly claims refunds, because its input tax credits exceed the tax it collects, gets each refund sooner by filing monthly or quarterly instead of annually. A business that regularly owes net tax keeps the money longer by filing annually, at the cost of larger instalments where those apply. A second reason is tidiness: monthly filing forces the books to close monthly, which suits businesses whose records are kept that way anyway, while annual filing suits a seasonal business that would rather reconcile once.
Moving to a less frequent period is the restricted direction, and the restriction is the 12-month test. If you are assigned a monthly or quarterly period, you can elect a less frequent period only if, after 12 months, your taxable supplies fall below the thresholds of your assigned period. A quarterly filer whose revenue falls below $1,500,000 in one quarter has not met the test; the test looks at the threshold amount over 12 months. And the period does not adjust on its own: the CRA states plainly that if you do not file an election, you will keep the previously assigned reporting period even though your revenue has fallen below its threshold. Calendar the 12-month point and file the election; waiting for the CRA to notice is not a strategy.
The election has two routes, and both lead to the same record. Online, use the File an election digital service in My Business Account, or Represent a Client if an authorized representative files for you. By mail, fill out Form GST20, Election for GST/HST Reporting Period, and send it to your tax centre. Selected listed financial institutions use Form RC7220 for a combined GST/HST and QST election instead, and the GST20 form itself notes that it is not for listed financial institutions. Whichever route you use, keep the confirmation or the mailing record with the tax file: the election's effective date, and the first return due on the new period, are the two facts the file must prove later.
Before filing, confirm three things on the form or in the online service: the period you are electing, the effective date the election rules give for that change, and any instalment consequence of the change. An annual filer moving to quarterly or monthly filing stops the annual instalment pattern and starts filing returns for each new period. A quarterly filer moving to annual filing starts the instalment pattern if net tax reaches the $3,000 level. Filing the election without checking the instalment consequence trades one deadline pattern for another without warning.
The election does not rewrite history. Returns for periods before the effective date remain due on the old schedule, and the first return on the new schedule is the first period beginning on or after the effective date. Do not skip a return because a period straddles the change, and do not file two returns for the same period on different schedules. The due dates follow the period: monthly and quarterly returns, with any amount owing, are due one month after the end of the reporting period. Annual returns are generally due three months after the end of the fiscal year, except for individuals with business income and a December 31 year-end, whose return is due June 15 while any amount owing is due April 30. Annual filers with net tax of $3,000 or more may have to pay quarterly instalments, each due one month after the end of a fiscal quarter. After the first return on the new frequency, check My Business Account to confirm the CRA record shows the new period, and correct any mismatch before the second return falls due.
| Annual taxable supplies $1,500,000 or less | Annual assigned; monthly or quarterly optional |
|---|---|
| Annual taxable supplies more than $1,500,000 up to $6,000,000 | Quarterly assigned; monthly optional |
| Annual taxable supplies more than $6,000,000 | Monthly assigned; no optional period |
Your reporting period is determined by your revenue from taxable supplies of property and services made in Canada in your immediately preceding fiscal year, or in all preceding fiscal quarters ending in that fiscal year. The revenue includes zero-rated supplies made in Canada and those of your associates, and it excludes supplies made outside Canada, zero-rated exports, zero-rated supplies of financial services, exempt supplies, taxable supplies of capital real property, and goodwill. At $1,500,000 or less the CRA generally assigns an annual period, from more than $1,500,000 up to $6,000,000 it assigns quarterly, and above $6,000,000 it assigns monthly. Charities and most listed financial institutions are assigned annual periods.
Yes. If you are assigned an annual or quarterly reporting period, you can file an election on [Form GST20](https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/forms-publications/forms/gst20.html) to choose a more frequent period: an annual filer may elect quarterly or monthly, and a quarterly filer may elect monthly. The usual reason is refunds: a business that regularly receives refunds gets its money sooner by filing more often, while a business that regularly owes money keeps the cash longer by filing less often. File the election through the File an election service in My Business Account or Represent a Client, or send Form GST20 to your tax centre, and file on the new period from its effective date.
Only in defined circumstances. If you are assigned a monthly or quarterly period, you can elect a less frequent period only if, after 12 months, your taxable supplies fall below the thresholds of your assigned period. The reporting period does not adjust automatically when revenue falls: if you do not file an election, you keep the previously assigned period even though your revenue now sits below its threshold. Check your threshold amount over a full 12 months before electing down, since a single quiet quarter does not meet the test.
An election takes effect from the date the election rules set for its type, which depends on whether you are a new registrant, already a registrant, or moving between particular periods, so confirm the effective date on [Form GST20](https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/forms-publications/forms/gst20.html) before relying on it. File on your existing period until the election takes effect, and do not skip a return for a period that straddles the change: a return is due for every reporting period, on the old schedule until the change takes effect and on the new schedule after it. If you file online, My Business Account shows the reporting period the CRA holds for your account, which is the check to run before the first return on the new frequency.
Yes, the due date follows the period. Monthly and quarterly filers file the return and pay any amount owing one month after the end of the reporting period. Annual filers generally file and pay three months after the end of the fiscal year, except individuals with business income and a December 31 year-end, whose return is due June 15 while any amount owing is due April 30. Annual filers whose net tax reaches $3,000 may also have to pay quarterly instalments, each due one month after the end of a fiscal quarter. Moving to a more frequent period therefore moves money sooner as well as paper sooner, which is the trade to weigh before electing.
In Quebec, Revenu Québec administers QST alongside the GST/HST, and a change to the GST/HST reporting period does not automatically settle the QST position. For most businesses the GST/HST fiscal year and the QST fiscal year are the same, but reporting period elections for QST, and elections for selected listed financial institutions covering both taxes, use their own forms, including [RC7220](https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/forms-publications/forms/rc7220.html) for a combined GST/HST and QST election. If you file in Quebec, check the QST election position with Revenu Québec at the same time as the GST/HST election, rather than assuming one filing changes both.