Your GST/HST filing deadline comes from the reporting period assigned to your account, not from a universal calendar date. Check the due date in CRA My Business Account and on your personalized return. If you are registered, you must file a return for every reporting period, including a nil return. CRA reporting requirements and deadlines are the current authority for the rules below.
The standard filing and payment deadlines
| Reporting period | Filing deadline | Payment deadline |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly | One month after the reporting period ends | One month after the reporting period ends |
| Quarterly | One month after the reporting period ends | One month after the reporting period ends |
| Annual, most registrants | Three months after fiscal year-end | Three months after fiscal year-end |
| Annual, listed financial institution (except one listed only because of a section 150 election) | Six months after fiscal year-end | Six months after fiscal year-end |
If a due date falls on a Saturday, Sunday or CRA-recognized public holiday, the return or payment is on time when the CRA receives it on the next business day.
The December 31 sole-proprietor exception
An annual filer has different payment and filing dates only where all three conditions are met: the person is an individual with a business, has a December 31 fiscal year-end, and had business income for tax purposes that year. In that case, the payment is due April 30 and the return is due June 15 of the following year.
This is why a self-employed person can have a later filing date but still owe interest if they wait until June to pay a balance. If any of those conditions is missing, the regular annual three-month deadline applies.
Do you have to file when there were no sales?
Yes. The CRA says a GST/HST registrant must file for every reporting period even with no transactions, no income or no net tax to remit. This is a nil return. Do not assume an inactive account can be ignored; a final return is also required when closing a GST/HST account.
How to avoid a deadline mistake
- Confirm the reporting period and due date in your CRA account before the period ends.
- Keep your return calculation and payment as separate tasks. Filing does not by itself pay a balance.
- File on time even if you cannot pay in full; the CRA can charge penalties and interest on amounts or returns not received by the due date.
- For an annual account, check whether instalment obligations apply separately during the year.
Use the GST/HST filing page for the available filing routes. For invoice records that support the return, see how to show GST/HST on an invoice. Quebec registrants should confirm whether Revenu Québec, rather than the CRA, administers their account.