How to register (Ontario)
- Have ready: your business name, type of business (most crews start as a sole proprietor), the name and SIN of every owner, your business and mailing address, and a short description of what you do.
- Register online through the CRA's Business Registration Online (BRO). It gives you a business number and a GST/HST account in one go. You can't save halfway, so do it in one sitting.
- Can't register online? Use form RC1 and send it to your tax centre.
Have a temporary SIN that starts with 9? As a sole proprietor you register through Business Registration Online.
What an HST number looks like
15 characters: your 9-digit business number, the letters RT (the GST/HST account), and a 4-digit reference — for example 123456789 RT0001. Put the whole number on your invoices.
How to check someone's HST number
Use the CRA's GST/HST Registry (free): enter the first 9 digits. Do this before you claim back HST a supplier charged you.
When do I have to register?
When your taxable sales go over $30,000 in four calendar quarters, or in one quarter. The $30,000 rule →
Started charging HST before registering?
If you began charging GST/HST more than 30 days before registering, the CRA asks you to contact them.
Got your number?
Put it on your first invoice — free HST invoice generator.