Quick Method compare

How it works

1. 1 Pick your province and how often you file. Then type in a year of taxable sales from your books, and say whether you sell mostly goods or services.
2. 2 Add the costs you paid GST/HST on, as one total or kind by kind. It fills in both returns, the regular way and the Quick Method way, line by line, and shows which one leaves more money with you.
3. 3 A chart shows where the two cross: the level of costs past which the Quick Method stops paying. Slide to try other costs, then save the date to elect by, copy a note for your bookkeeper, or print a worksheet.

Free, with no account. Everything happens in your browser: your sales and cost figures are never sent to us, put in a link or logged. Remember is off unless you turn it on, and then keeps your setup and figures on this device only. The calendar reminders hold dates, never amounts.

Guidance, not tax advice. Check with CRA or your accountant before you elect.

Good to know

What the Quick Method is

You still charge customers GST/HST as usual. But instead of sending CRA the tax you collected less the tax you paid on costs, you send a set share of your sales, tax included, and you get a 1% credit on the first $30,000 each fiscal year. You still claim the tax on capital property, like equipment. See Quick Method of accounting for GST/HST (RC4058).

Where the two cross

The Quick Method rate is built for a business with average costs. If your costs with GST/HST on them are low, like a salon or a studio, it often leaves money with you. If they're high, the regular method claims more back and wins. The tool finds the level of costs where the two come out the same, so you can see how close you are.

Goods rates and services rates

There are two sets of rates. The lower goods rates are for businesses whose goods for resale, with tax, cost at least 40% of their taxable sales, with tax. Everyone else uses the services rates. The rate also depends on where your business is and the tax rate on each sale.

Who can elect, and when

Your taxable sales with GST/HST, plus your associates', need to be $400,000 or less. Some businesses can't use it, like bookkeepers, tax preparers, and legal and accounting practices. You elect with form GST74 or online, by the due date of the return for the first period you want it for, and stay on it for at least a year (verify).

What it doesn't cover

Real property, sales that aren't eligible, public service bodies' special quick method, and Quebec's QST have their own rules. In Quebec, Revenu Québec looks after the GST (verify). Anything the tool couldn't settle from official sources is marked "verify".