Your Quarterly GST/HST Return Is Due October 31. Here Is What to Have Ready.

If you file GST/HST quarterly and your fiscal year follows the calendar year, the return for July, August and September is due October 31. So is the payment. That is two deadlines on the same day, and missing either one costs money.

The return itself is short. Filed online, it comes down to a few totals: the tax you charged, the tax you can claim back, and the difference. Filling in the lines takes minutes.

The work is everything behind those lines. A GST/HST return is only as accurate as the three months of sales and expenses underneath it, and that is where quarterly filers get caught: an invoice that was never recorded, a receipt with no GST/HST number on it, a business purchase made on a personal card in August.

This year October 31 falls on a Saturday. The CRA treats a return or payment as on time if it receives it on the next business day, but a payment still in transit on Monday is not the same as a payment received. Plan to file and pay the week before.

Quick answer: When is my quarterly GST/HST return due, and what do I need to file it? For a quarterly filer whose fiscal year follows the calendar year, the return for July 1 to September 30 and any balance owing are both due October 31, one month after the end of the reporting period. If the due date falls on a weekend or a public holiday, the CRA treats the return and payment as on time if it receives them on the next business day. Almost every registrant must file electronically, and you must file even if you had no sales that quarter. Before you file, have four things ready: your sales for the quarter with the GST/HST you charged shown separately, your business expenses with invoices that support your input tax credits, any adjustments from earlier periods, and your bank and credit card statements reconciled for the three months. If your fiscal year does not follow the calendar year, your quarters and your due date move with it, so check the reporting period shown in your CRA business account.

What the Return Actually Asks For

The GST/HST return asks for a small set of totals. Knowing what each one means tells you which records to pull together.

• Sales and other revenue. Your total sales for the quarter, before GST/HST. This goes on line 101.
• GST/HST collected or collectible. The tax you charged in the quarter, on line 103. The CRA generally counts it when you issue the invoice or receive payment, whichever comes first. So an invoice sent in September and paid in October usually belongs in this quarter.
• Input tax credits (ITCs). The GST/HST you paid on business purchases, which you claim back on line 106. This is the line that needs the most paperwork.
• Adjustments. Corrections that change what you owe, such as a bad debt or an error on an earlier return.
• Net tax. Line 109: what you owe, or the refund you are due.

If you use the Quick Method, the calculation is different. You pay a set percentage of your sales including tax, and you generally do not claim input tax credits on everyday expenses. You still need a clean sales figure, so most of the list below still applies.

What to Have Ready Before You File

• Your sales for July, August and September, with the tax shown separately. Every invoice issued in the quarter, including the ones not yet paid. If you sell through a platform or a payment processor, its payout report usually shows the amount after fees. Your sales figure should generally be the full amount, with the fees recorded as an expense.
• Your business expenses, with invoices that support the credit. An input tax credit needs a supporting document. The CRA sets what that document must show, and the list gets longer as the purchase gets bigger, up to the supplier's GST/HST registration number and your business name. A line on a bank statement is not enough on its own.
• Bank and credit card statements for the three months, reconciled. Reconciling means matching every transaction in your books to your statements. It is the step that catches the missing invoice, the duplicate expense, and the deposit nobody recorded.
• Anything that crosses between personal and business. Business purchases on a personal card, a vehicle used for both, a home office. Only the business share of the tax can be claimed.
• Adjustments from earlier quarters. A customer who will never pay, a credit note you issued, or a mistake on your April to June return.
• Your sign-in for the CRA business account. Almost everyone must file online, through My Business Account, GST/HST NETFILE, or an accountant's software. Check that you can sign in the week before the deadline, not on the day.

Five Records That Most Often Hold Up a Return

• Receipts with no GST/HST number. Common with small suppliers and online purchases. For larger purchases, a claim without the number may not hold up if the CRA asks to see it.
• Platform income recorded after fees. The payout that lands in your bank is not your sales figure. Recording the net amount understates sales and hides the fees you could have expensed.
• Invoices issued but never recorded. Especially the unpaid ones. The tax on them is usually due this quarter, whether or not the customer has paid.
• Mixed-use purchases claimed in full. A phone, a vehicle, or internet used for both business and personal life. Claiming 100 percent is one of the first things a review looks at.
• Sales charged at the wrong rate. GST/HST rates differ by province, and the rate you charge generally depends on where your customer is, not where you are. Out-of-province sales charged at your home rate need correcting before you file.

What Missing October 31 Costs

Late filing and late payment are two separate problems with two separate costs. Filing on time protects you from the first even when you cannot fully fix the second.

• Return filed late with a balance owing. A penalty of 1% of the balance owing, plus 25% of that 1% for each full month the return is late, up to 12 months. File on time, even if you cannot pay the full amount yet.
• Balance paid late. Interest on the unpaid amount, compounded daily from the due date at the CRA's prescribed rate. Pay what you can by the deadline, so interest runs on a smaller amount.
• Return filed on paper when online filing is required. A $100 penalty the first time and $250 for each return after that. File through My Business Account, GST/HST NETFILE, or your accountant.
• No sales this quarter, so no return filed. The account shows a missing return. The CRA can hold refunds and send follow-up letters until it is filed. File a return showing zero, which takes a few minutes.
• Input tax credits claimed without proper invoices. If reviewed, the CRA can deny the credit, which raises the tax owing and adds interest from the original due date. Check each larger claim has an invoice showing what the CRA requires.
• Return filed on estimates to hit the date. Correcting it later means an adjustment request and, if you underpaid, interest back to October 31. Reconcile the quarter before you file, not after.
• Deadline falls on a weekend, as it does this year. The CRA treats the return and payment as on time if received the next business day. Do not plan around it. File and pay the week before.

Confirm current rates, thresholds, and deadlines at canada.ca before calculating against them.

If You Cannot Pay the Full Amount

File the return anyway. The late filing penalty is calculated on the balance owing when the return is late, so a return filed on time avoids that penalty even if the payment is short.

Interest still runs on whatever is unpaid, from the due date. Paying part of the balance by October 31 reduces the amount it runs on. If you need longer, the CRA can discuss a payment arrangement, and it is a much easier conversation before the balance has been sitting for months.

How Count myAccount Handles This

• Count myAccount assigns your GST/HST file to an expert who reconciles your quarter before a single line of the return is filled in.
• We build your sales figure from your invoices and platform reports, record the full amounts, and book the fees as expenses.
• We check each input tax credit against its invoice and flag the ones that would not hold up if the CRA asked.
• We walk you through the net tax figure and how we got there in a review session before anything is filed.
• We file electronically and send you the confirmation, the amount to pay, and the date it is due.
• If your books are behind, we catch up the quarter first, because the return is only as good as the records under it.

GST/HST return due October 31 and not sure your quarter is ready? Book a free consultation at countmyaccount.ca. Tell us how often you file, roughly how many transactions you had this quarter, and whether your books are up to date. We will tell you what is missing, what the return will need, and what it costs for Count myAccount to prepare and file it.

Frequently Asked Questions

When is the GST/HST return due for the July to September quarter?

For quarterly filers whose fiscal year follows the calendar year, the return and any payment are due October 31, one month after the quarter ends. When the due date falls on a weekend or a public holiday, as October 31 does this year, the CRA treats the return and payment as on time if it receives them on the next business day. If your fiscal year ends on a different date, your quarters shift, so check the reporting period in your CRA business account and confirm at canada.ca.

Do I have to file a GST/HST return if I had no sales this quarter?

Yes. The CRA requires a return for every reporting period, even when there were no business transactions. Filing a return showing zero takes a few minutes online. Leaving it unfiled leaves a missing return on your account, which can hold up refunds and lead to follow-up letters.

Can I still file my GST/HST return on paper?

Almost certainly not. All GST/HST registrants except charities and selected listed financial institutions must file electronically. The penalty for filing on paper when online filing is required is $100 the first time and $250 for each return after that. You can file through My Business Account, GST/HST NETFILE, or through an accountant's software.

What records do I need to claim input tax credits?

You need a supporting document for each purchase, usually the supplier's invoice or receipt. What it must show depends on the amount: the bigger the purchase, the more detail is required, including the supplier's GST/HST registration number. Keep your records for six years from the end of the year they relate to, because the CRA can ask for them after the return has been processed. Confirm the current requirements at canada.ca.

Can I claim input tax credits I missed in an earlier quarter?

Generally yes, on a later return, as long as you are still inside the time limit. For most small businesses that limit is four years, though some larger businesses have a shorter one. Claim them with the invoices in hand, and confirm the limit that applies to you at canada.ca before relying on it.

How much does Count myAccount charge to prepare and file a GST/HST return?

Count myAccount prepares and files GST/HST returns for a flat fee per return, which covers preparing the return, a review session with you, and filing it with the CRA. If you want the quarter handled as part of ongoing monthly bookkeeping, those packages are also flat monthly fees, priced by your revenue and how many transactions you have in a year. Current prices for both are on our business pricing page, and you see the price and the steps before any work starts.

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