Mireille makes linen-bound notebooks in Quebec City. Her records began with a few weekend sales. Now a shop wants a larger order, and the tax question has become more urgent than choosing the ribbon.
For a business carrying on commercial activities in Quebec, check GST and QST registration together. A GST/HST account does not, by itself, confirm the QST account or its effective date. Revenu Québec provides registration for both systems. GST and QST registration overview.
Count the sales that belong in the test
The usual small-supplier test looks at worldwide taxable supplies, including zero-rated supplies, made by the business and its associates. The limit is $30,000, tested in a single calendar quarter and across four consecutive calendar quarters. Tax amounts, financial services and sales of capital property are excluded from this total.
This is not a profit test. Mireille does not subtract paper, cloth or postage before checking the limit. Nor does she count only sales paid by card, or restart the running four-quarter total each January. Details concerning small suppliers.
Her worksheet separates each quarter's taxable sales from expenses and tax collected. It also identifies sales with a different tax treatment, rather than deciding that every deposit must be a taxable sale.
The crossing date matters
If the limit is exceeded within one quarter, small-supplier status ends immediately. Tax applies to the sale that crosses the limit and subsequent taxable sales. For a threshold exceeded across four consecutive quarters, the timing is different: small-supplier status generally ends after the following calendar month.
In a simplified single-quarter example, Mireille has $28,000 of taxable sales and makes another $3,000 taxable sale. That brings the quarter to $31,000. The triggering sale is the full $3,000 sale, not merely the $1,000 above the threshold.
Review the actual transaction date and registration requirements before sending that invoice. Revenu Québec generally requires QST registration before the first taxable supply made as someone other than a small supplier. Its GST application rule allows until before the 30th day following the first such sale. That application window does not make an otherwise taxable sale tax-free. When and how to register.
Check exceptions and voluntary registration
Some activities require registration regardless of the ordinary threshold. Taxi operations are one example; certain products also trigger QST registration for small suppliers. Check the activity-specific rules instead of assuming that $30,000 is universal.
A small supplier can also register voluntarily. That brings collection and remittance obligations, alongside potential recovery of eligible tax on business purchases. A Quebec commercial business registering for QST must also register for GST/HST and generally remain registered for at least one year. This choice deserves a look at customers, purchases and administration, not only the next refund.
Save the confirmations before changing the template
Use Revenu Québec's business registration service, My Account service where applicable, or form LM-1-V. Keep the confirmations for both tax accounts, effective dates and reporting periods in the business file.
Then update the invoice template and bookkeeping from the correct dates. If Mireille discovers that she crossed the limit earlier, she gathers the affected sales and contacts Revenu Québec to resolve the registration and reporting position. Choosing today's date would not answer what happened to last month's orders.
Checked October 20, 2026. This guide concerns an ordinary business operating in Quebec; suppliers outside Quebec and special registration systems need their own rules.
