What Must Appear on a Canadian Invoice: GST/HST Information Requirements

A Canadian invoice must carry the information prescribed by the Input Tax Credit Information (GST/HST) Regulations, and the requirements scale in three tiers with the document total: under $100, $100 to under $500, and $500 or more. Your GST/HST number is mandatory from $100 up; the customer's name, payment terms and a description of the supply become mandatory at $500.

The 60-second version

Canadian invoice content is not a matter of style. The Input Tax Credit Information (GST/HST) Regulations set out exactly what your customer needs from you in order to claim their input tax credit [1].
There are three tiers, and they are driven by the total on the document: under $100, $100 to under $500, and $500 or more [1].
Your GST/HST registration number is only mandatory from $100 up. The recipient's name, the terms of payment and a description of what was supplied only become mandatory at $500 [1].
Those thresholds used to be $30 and $150. They were raised, and a great deal of published guidance has not caught up [1].
Get it wrong and the tax cost lands on your customer, not you - their input tax credit is the one that gets denied [2].

Why your invoice is really your customer's tax document

Most guidance about invoicing is written from the seller's point of view: get paid faster, look professional, chase overdue accounts. The GST/HST rules run the other way. They exist because your invoice is the evidence your customer needs.

Subsection 169(4) of the Excise Tax Act says a registrant may not claim an input tax credit unless, before filing the return in which the credit is claimed, they have obtained sufficient evidence in such form containing such information as will enable the amount of the credit to be determined, including any information that may be prescribed [2]. The prescribing is done by a short regulation with a long name: the Input Tax Credit Information (GST/HST) Regulations [1].

So the practical consequence of a thin invoice is not that you get penalised. It is that your customer's claim can be denied on audit, and they come back to you, sometimes years later, asking for a corrected document. Businesses that invoice other businesses discover this the expensive way.

The three tiers

Section 3 of the regulations sets out what counts as prescribed information, and it scales with the total amount shown on the supporting documentation [1]. Note that the test is the total on the document, not the value of any single line on it.

Under $100

The minimum set is genuinely minimal:

the name of the supplier or intermediary, or the name under which they do business;
the date of the invoice, or if no invoice was issued, the date on which the tax was paid or became payable;
the total amount paid or payable for all the supplies [1].

That is a coffee shop receipt. No registration number required, no description of what was bought, no customer name.

$100 to under $500

Two significant additions arrive at this tier. First, the supplier's GST/HST registration number, assigned under section 241 of the Act. Second, the tax information: either the amount of tax paid or payable, or - where the price is tax-included - a statement to that effect together with the total tax rate that applied [1].

There is also a rule that catches mixed invoices. Where two or more supplies on the same document have a different status - exempt, zero-rated, or taxable and not zero-rated - the document must indicate which ones are taxable and not zero-rated [1]. A grocery order mixing basic groceries with prepared food is the everyday example.

$500 or more

At $500 the document has to look like what most people picture when they hear the word invoice. Everything from the lower tiers, plus:

the recipient's name, the name under which the recipient does business, or the name of the recipient's duly authorized agent or representative;
the terms of payment;
a description of the supply sufficient to identify it [1].

"Sufficient to identify it" is doing real work in that sentence. "Consulting services - $4,200" is thin. "Consulting services, March 2026, migration of accounts payable workflow - $4,200" identifies the supply.

The numbers most sources still get wrong

If you search for Canadian invoice requirements, you will overwhelmingly be told the tiers are under $30, $30 to $149.99, and $150 or more. Those were the amounts for many years, and they are wrong now.

The consolidated regulation on the Justice Laws Website shows the thresholds as $100 and $500, with section 3 carrying amendment notes including 2024, c. 15, s. 142 [1]. The consolidation we checked was current to a 2026 date, which is a stronger foundation than a blog post of unknown vintage.

Two practical points follow. If you are the supplier, the safe move is to include the fuller set of information regardless of amount - nothing in the rules stops you from putting your registration number and a proper description on a $40 invoice, and it removes the question entirely. If you are the customer and an old receipt is missing your name or a description, check which threshold actually applied when the document was issued before you assume the claim is dead.

Because thresholds do move, treat any dollar figure you read about Canadian tax - including this one - as something to confirm against the consolidated statute or regulation on the day you rely on it.

You also have to tell the customer about the tax

Separately from the input tax credit rules, section 223 of the Act requires a registrant making a taxable supply to indicate to the recipient the tax payable, either by showing the amount of tax separately or by indicating that the amount charged includes GST/HST [3]. You get to choose which. What you do not get to do is stay silent about it.

This is why "prices include HST" on a quote is perfectly acceptable, and why an invoice showing a single number with no mention of tax at all is not.

Which rate goes on the invoice

The rate is not set by where your business is. It is set by the place of supply rules, which generally look to where the supply is made - and for many supplies that means the customer's province [6]. A New Brunswick supplier billing an Ontario client is frequently charging 13 percent, not 15.

Getting this wrong is expensive in a specific way: if you undercharge, CRA still wants the correct amount remitted, and you are left trying to collect the difference from a customer who has already paid and considers the matter closed.

Fixing an invoice you have already issued

Do not quietly edit and resend. Where the consideration or tax charged is later reduced, section 232 of the Act provides the mechanism, and a credit note or debit note containing prescribed information is how the adjustment is documented [4].

Keeping the original and issuing a numbered credit note against it also preserves the audit trail, which matters more than the tidiness of your invoice sequence. An unexplained gap in invoice numbers is a question you will have to answer; a credit note answers it in advance.

A practical invoice checklist

For a business-to-business invoice of any size, include all of the following and you are covered at every tier:

your business name and GST/HST registration number;
the invoice date and a unique invoice number;
the customer's name;
a description of each supply sufficient to identify it;
the amount for each supply and the total;
the GST/HST shown separately, or a clear statement that the total includes it, with the rate applied;
an indication of which items are taxable where the invoice mixes statuses;
the terms of payment.

Every one of those exists because someone, somewhere, had a claim denied for the want of it.

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to put my GST/HST number on every invoice in Canada?

Not strictly. The supplier's GST/HST registration number becomes prescribed information once the total on the document reaches $100. Below that, name, date and total amount are enough. In practice, most businesses put the registration number on everything, because it costs nothing and removes any question about which tier applied.

What are the current invoice information thresholds?

Under $100, $100 to under $500, and $500 or more. Many published sources still quote the older $30 and $150 figures. The consolidated Input Tax Credit Information (GST/HST) Regulations on the Justice Laws Website show $100 and $500, with amendment notes including 2024, c. 15, s. 142.

Can I show a tax-included price instead of listing GST/HST separately?

Yes. Section 223 of the Excise Tax Act lets you either show the tax separately or indicate that the amount charged includes GST/HST. If you go the tax-included route on an invoice of $100 or more, the regulations also require a statement to that effect together with the total tax rate that applied.

What happens if my invoice is missing required information?

The immediate consequence falls on your customer, not you: their input tax credit can be denied because subsection 169(4) requires them to have obtained the prescribed information before filing the return claiming it. They will then ask you for a corrected document, potentially long after the fact.

Which province's GST/HST rate do I charge?

Generally the rate for the province where the supply is made under the place of supply rules, which for many supplies points to the customer's province rather than yours. A supplier in one province routinely charges another province's rate. Confirm against CRA's guidance for your specific type of supply.

How do I correct an invoice I have already sent?

Issue a credit note or debit note rather than editing the original. Section 232 of the Excise Tax Act provides the mechanism where consideration or tax is later reduced, and the note has to contain prescribed information. Keeping the original intact also preserves a clean audit trail.

Sources cited in this article

Input Tax Credit Information (GST/HST) Regulations, SOR/91-45, section 3
The three-tier list of prescribed information. Thresholds of $100 and $500; amendment notes include SOR/2000-180, SOR/2014-248 and 2024, c. 15, s. 142.
https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/SOR-91-45/page-1.html
Excise Tax Act, section 169
Subsection 169(4): a registrant cannot claim an input tax credit without first obtaining the prescribed information.
https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/e-15/section-169.html
Excise Tax Act, section 223
Requirement to indicate the tax payable to the recipient, either separately or as a tax-included statement.
https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/e-15/section-223.html
Excise Tax Act, section 232
Refunds and adjustments of tax, and the credit note or debit note mechanism.
https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/e-15/section-232.html
CRA - RC4022, General Information for GST/HST Registrants
CRA's plain-language guide covering invoicing, collection and remittance.
https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/forms-publications/publications/rc4022.html
CRA - Charge and collect the tax: which rate to charge
Place of supply and the applicable GST/HST rate by province.
https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/businesses/topics/gst-hst-businesses/charge-collect-which-rate.html
CRA - When to register for and start charging the GST/HST
Small supplier threshold and registration timing.
https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/businesses/topics/gst-hst-businesses/when-register-charge.html
CRA - Complete and file a return: calculate the net tax
How collected tax and input tax credits combine into the amount remitted.
https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/businesses/topics/gst-hst-businesses/calculate-prepare-report.html

All sources verified August 15, 2026. Spotted a link that has moved? Email support@mapleinvoice.com and we will correct it.