Canada GST/HST Calculator by Province
Here is the awkward truth behind this free GST HST calculator by province: Canada does not have one sales tax. The federal 5% GST applies everywhere, five provinces fold it into a single HST, and the rest stack their own PST or QST on top. Pick your province and it adds tax to a price, or pulls it back out of a total, showing the federal and provincial slices separately so you can see exactly who took what. Covers GST, HST, PST and Quebec QST with current provincial rates, so the total matches what you would actually pay at the till.
Last updated: October 22, 2026
Your result
The formula
Add tax: tax = price × combined rate, and total = price × (1 + combined rate)Remove tax: price before tax = total ÷ (1 + combined rate)Combined rate = federal GST (5%) + provincial portion (PST, QST or the provincial part of HST)
A worked example
A $200.00 purchase in Ontario carries 13% HST: $26.00 of tax for a total of $226.00. In British Columbia the same $200.00 carries 5% GST ($10.00) plus 7% PST ($14.00), so $24.00 of tax and a total of $224.00.
More about the Canada Sales Tax Calculator
GST, PST and HST: the two layers
Two purchases tell the whole story. $200 in Ontario at 13% HST: $26.00 of tax, $226.00 total, one line on the receipt. The same $200 in British Columbia: 5% GST ($10.00) plus 7% PST ($14.00), $24.00 of tax, $224.00 total, two lines. Two dollars apart, completely different machinery underneath. The calculator shows both the combined figure and the split, because the split is what your bookkeeping actually needs.
People reach for this tool in the same handful of situations. Small businesses quoting jobs need the tax inclusive price for the invoice, plus the split for their own books. Shoppers compare the true cost across provinces before a big purchase. Anyone filing expenses strips tax out of totals for reimbursement. And newcomers to Canada just want to understand why the shelf price was not the paying price (in Ontario it is. HST is built into displayed prices; the confusion usually comes from BC style separate PST).
Working backwards and business write offs
A few tips that prevent the usual mistakes. First, confirm the province where the sale takes place, not where you live, tax follows the point of sale. Second, Nova Scotia is 14% now, not 15%; if your accounting software still says 15%, update it. Third, Quebec's 14.975% applies to the GST inclusive price in a particular way, the calculator handles it, so do not try to replicate it with one multiplication on paper. Fourth, on business purchases keep the federal/provincial split: GST/HST paid is generally recoverable as input tax credits, PST usually is not.
The limits are straightforward: one rate per calculation, applied to the whole amount, so a mixed cart with zero rated groceries needs separate runs. The rates reflect 2026 CRA published figures, but provinces can move rates in budgets, if a rate looks off against a fresh receipt, trust the receipt; the province probably moved. For anything beyond arithmetic, what is taxable, what you can claim back, the CRA's guides are the authority, not a calculator.
A worked Manitoba example with both taxes separated
Suppose you buy $450 of taxable goods in Manitoba. The federal GST is 5 percent of $450, which is $22.50. Manitoba’s provincial tax, charged at 7 percent, adds another $31.50 on the same $450. The two together come to $54.00 of tax, so the amount you hand over is $504.00. Run the same purchase backwards to check it: $504.00 divided by 1.12 returns exactly $450.00, which confirms the combined rate behind both calculations is 12 percent.
The separation matters more than the total for anyone keeping books. The $22.50 GST portion and the $31.50 provincial portion are treated differently when a business files, claims credits, or reconciles a receipt, so a single merged figure is not enough. That is why the calculator reports each layer on its own line even in provinces where the customer only ever sees one combined charge at the till.
Receipt mistakes that make the arithmetic look wrong
The most frequent source of confusion is running the calculator for the province you live in instead of the province where the purchase happens. Tax follows the place of supply and, for shipped goods, the delivery address, so a familiar home province rate will produce a confidently wrong answer for an out of province order. Before blaming the arithmetic, confirm the delivery province, then check whether everything in the basket was actually taxable at the full rate.
A second trap is testing the calculator against a mixed receipt. A grocery run can contain zero rated basic groceries sitting beside fully taxed cleaning products and snacks that are taxed differently again, so no single rate can reproduce that total. Separate the taxable goods from the zero rated ones and run only the taxable portion. If the figures still disagree, compare the federal and provincial lines separately; the layer that differs is the layer to investigate.
Single tax provinces versus stacked tax provinces: what actually changes for you?
In an HST province the federal and provincial portions travel together as one tax, one line, and one filing stream, which keeps receipts and bookkeeping comparatively simple. In a stacked province such as British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, or Quebec, the provincial tax runs as its own system beside the GST, with its own registration, its own return, and its own rules about which goods and services it touches at all.
For a shopper, the practical difference is small: learn the combined rate where you buy and the totals will make sense. For a business selling across provincial lines, the difference is large, because each stacked province can mean a separate registration and a separate pot of tax that cannot simply be netted against the federal side. Choose the calculator mode that matches your purpose, combined for a quick purchase check, split view whenever the numbers are headed for your books.
How to use the Canada Sales Tax Calculator
- Choose whether to add tax to a price or pull it out of a total.
- Enter the amount in Canadian dollars.
- Select the province or territory where the sale takes place, or enter a custom combined rate.
- Hit Calculate to see the GST or HST slice, the provincial slice and the total.
Frequently asked questions
Why do articles disagree about Nova Scotia's rate?
Because it changed. Nova Scotia cut its HST from 15% to 14% on 1 April 2025 by trimming the provincial portion. Older pages, and older receipts in your files, still show 15%. This calculator uses the current 14%, verified against CRA published provincial rates. When in doubt, check the CRA, not a blog.
How do I strip the tax back out of a total I already paid?
Divide the tax inclusive total by one plus the rate as a decimal. In Ontario at 13% HST: $113 ÷ 1.13 = $100 before tax, so $13 was tax. Quebec's 14.975% combined rate means dividing by 1.14975. The calculator's reverse mode does this instantly for any province, handy for expense reports.
Is everything taxed? What about groceries?
No, basic groceries, most prescription drugs and certain other supplies are zero rated, and some items are exempt or taxed differently by province. This calculator applies one rate to the whole amount, so pull zero rated items out first if you want an exact figure. For a mixed cart, run the taxable portion separately.
How much tax is on $100 in Ontario versus Alberta?
$13 in Ontario ($113 total) versus $5 in Alberta ($105 total). Same hundred dollars, eight dollars apart, which is the entire Canadian sales tax story in one sentence.
Do I pay sales tax when buying from another province online?
You pay the tax of the province where the goods are delivered, not where the seller sits. An Ontario retailer shipping to Alberta charges 5% GST only; shipping the same item to Quebec charges GST plus QST. This destination rule is why online checkout totals change when you enter a different shipping address.
What is the difference between a tax included price and a tax added price in Canada?
A tax included price already has GST/HST or PST baked in. You use the calculator's reverse mode to pull the tax back out and see the before tax price. A tax added price means the tax gets charged on top at checkout, so you use the normal mode to add it. Most shelf prices in Canada are tax added; the number at the register is higher.
Is Quebec QST calculated on top of GST?
No. Since January 1, 2013, the 9.975% QST is calculated on the pre tax price, just like the 5% GST. The combined rate is 14.975% of the pre tax price: on $100 you pay $5 GST and $9.98 QST, for a $114.98 total.
Why does my Manitoba receipt say RST instead of PST?
Because Manitoba calls its provincial tax the retail sales tax, shortened to RST, even though it plays the same role that PST plays in British Columbia and Saskatchewan. The name changes; the mechanics do not. It is charged beside the federal GST rather than blended with it, it has its own provincial return for businesses, and the calculator treats it as Manitoba’s provincial layer when it splits your total.
Are restaurant meals taxed like ordinary purchases?
Prepared food is treated very differently from basic groceries. A restaurant meal is a prepared product and a service combined, so it is generally taxed in full at the rate of the province where you eat, while basic groceries bought to prepare at home are zero rated for GST and HST purposes. Provincial layers can still differ on prepared food, so run the calculator for the province of the restaurant rather than assuming your grocery experience applies.
Which province has the lowest sales tax in Canada?
Alberta, Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut charge only the 5% federal GST, the lowest in the country. At the other end, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador charge 15% HST. Pick any province above to compare.