GST/HST Nil Return

A nil return is a GST/HST return with zero in every applicable field. If you remain registered, a return is due for each assigned period even when you had no business transactions or income. CRA: reporting requirements

No sales does not always mean a nil return

Before choosing the nil option, check sales and other revenue, tax collected or collectible, eligible input tax credits (ITCs), adjustments, instalments and rebates. A business with no sales may still have eligible ITCs for business purchases; a $0 balance can also result from equal tax and credits. Both situations require reporting the actual amounts, rather than declaring every field zero. CRA: which return to use

For example, no sales but $50 of eligible documented ITCs means the return has a reportable credit. No sales, tax, ITCs, adjustments, instalments or rebates is a nil period.

How to file a GST/HST nil return

1. Check the correct GST/HST account, reporting period and due date.
2. Reconcile the period’s records and confirm every applicable amount is zero.
3. To use the online NETFILE form outside My Business Account, have your Business Number (BN), 4-digit access code and the period’s start and end dates ready.
4. Use an available CRA electronic filing method; in the online NETFILE form, check “I am filing a nil return (all fields are $0)”, review the period and submit.
5. Keep the 6-digit confirmation number CRA gives you and your supporting records.

For periods beginning on or after January 1, 2024, most registrants must file electronically, including for a nil return; charities and selected listed financial institutions are excepted and CRA may grant an exemption case by case. CRA says a paper nil return cannot be filed at a financial institution; for the form itself, see the paper nil return form. CRA: how to file, CRA: paper filing

Check your own assigned period: monthly and quarterly filers generally file one month after period end; most annual filers generally have three months, with different rules for certain annual individuals. A closing account still needs a final return. CRA: deadlines

What if you don’t file a GST/HST nil return?

Skipping a nil return doesn’t make the period disappear. CRA can still require the return or issue a demand to file it; a zero amount owing avoids the usual late-filing penalty formula, but not every related obligation — filing on paper when electronic filing is required, or ignoring a demand to file, carries its own penalty (see late-filing penalties). If the business has stopped operating for good, filing nil returns period after period isn’t the only option: cancelling your GST/HST account stops new periods from starting once the final return is filed.