Do Canadian Freelancers Charge GST/HST to US Clients? (2026)

Usually not. As of October 2026, most services a GST/HST-registered Canadian freelancer supplies to a client who is not resident in Canada, such as a US business, are zero-rated exports: GST/HST applies at 0%, so you add no tax to the invoice, and you can still claim input tax credits (ITCs) on your Canadian business costs. The exceptions are narrow but real: a service rendered to an individual while they are in Canada, and services tied to real property or physical goods located in Canada. The zero rate also depends on your client actually being a non-resident, which the CRA expects you to be able to show. This guide walks through the rule, the exceptions, the $30,000 question and a worked return, with every rule linked to the Canada Revenue Agency page it comes from.

Quick answer

• Registered for GST/HST, US or other foreign client, work done remotely: usually zero-rated. You charge 0% GST/HST.
• Not registered (a small supplier): you don't charge GST/HST to anyone, but the foreign revenue still counts toward the $30,000 threshold.
• Client is in Canada while you deliver the service, or the work concerns property in Canada: the zero rate may not apply. Check before invoicing.
• The upside: zero-rated sales keep your right to ITCs, so a freelancer with mostly foreign clients can end up with a GST/HST refund.

Zero-rated vs exempt: why the difference matters

Both labels mean no GST/HST appears on the invoice, but they lead to different results on your return. The CRA defines zero-rated supplies as supplies "taxable at the rate of 0%", where registrants "may be eligible to claim ITCs for the GST/HST paid or payable on property and services acquired to provide these supplies" (RC4022). Exempt supplies, by contrast, "are not subject to the GST/HST", and registrants "generally cannot claim input tax credits" on the costs of making them.

The CRA lists exports among zero-rated supplies: "most goods and services for which you charge and collect the GST/HST in Canada, are zero-rated when exported." So a designer, developer, writer or consultant billing a US client is still making taxable supplies, just at a 0% rate. The GST/HST you pay on your laptop, software subscriptions or co-working desk is still recoverable through ITCs, to the extent you use them in your business.

	Zero-rated (e.g. most exported services)	Exempt (e.g. certain financial services)
GST/HST on the invoice	0%	None, because the supply is outside the tax
Can you claim ITCs on related costs?	Yes, if registered	Generally no
Counts toward the $30,000 threshold?	Yes	Not as a taxable supply
Reported on line 101 of the return?	Yes	Yes

The two rules that cover most freelance work: section 7 and section 23

The export rules for services sit in Part V of Schedule VI to the Excise Tax Act, and the CRA explains them in GST/HST Memorandum 4-5-3, Exports – Services and Intangible Personal Property (December 2023). Two sections cover most of what self-employed people sell.

Section 7: the general rule for services

The memo puts it plainly: "A supply of a service made to a non-resident person is zero-rated under the general provision provided the supply is not specifically excluded." That covers most remote design, development, writing, editing, marketing and similar work for a client outside Canada. Some service types are excluded from section 7 (advisory, consulting and professional services; postal, transportation and telecommunication services; acting as an agent), and the memo points to other provisions under which certain of them can still be zero-rated, so section 7 is the catch-all for the rest.

Section 23: advisory, consulting and professional services

Consulting, advisory and professional services have their own provision: "a supply of an advisory, consulting, or professional service made to a non-resident person" is zero-rated, with exclusions for litigation services in Canada, services in respect of real property or tangible personal property situated in Canada, and acting as an agent or arranging orders. For a freelance consultant advising a US company remotely, this is usually the section that applies.

A note on licensing rights instead of services

If what you sell is a right rather than a service, for example a licence to use a photo, illustration or piece of writing, a different section applies. Section 10 zero-rates intellectual property and licences supplied to a non-resident recipient "that is not registered under the regular GST/HST registration provisions at the time the supply is made". Unlike sections 7 and 23, that rule depends on the client's registration status too, so it's worth checking before you invoice a licence fee at 0%.

The exceptions that bring the tax back

Section 7 does not zero-rate every service to a non-resident. As of October 2026, the exclusions in Memorandum 4-5-3 that matter most to freelancers are:

• A supply made to an individual who is in Canada at any time when they have contact with you in relation to the supply. The memo lists this alongside the in-Canada exclusion below; it matters most when your client is a person rather than a company.
• A service rendered to an individual while that individual is in Canada. The CRA's Example 1: a non-resident corporation sends its employees to Canada for management training. That training "is not zero-rated under the general zero-rating provision because the service is rendered to individuals while they are in Canada." The same logic applies to a US client who flies in for an in-person session.
• Services in respect of real property situated in Canada, such as work tied to a building or land here.
• Services in respect of tangible personal property situated in Canada, such as work on physical goods that are located here.

Section 23 has its own list of exclusions (above), and the memo doesn't repeat the "individual in Canada" exclusion for it. If your client, or their staff, will be physically in Canada when you deliver advisory or professional work, read the memo or ask the CRA before you zero-rate. Where an exclusion applies, you charge GST/HST at the normal rate, using the same place-of-supply rules covered in our guide to what GST/HST to charge out-of-province clients.

Proving your client is a non-resident

The zero rate rests on one fact: the client is not resident in Canada. The CRA says "Suppliers who are registrants are responsible for determining the residence or registration status of their customers" (GST/HST Memorandum 4-5-1), and that they should keep "satisfactory evidence" that their customers are non-residents and, where it matters, not registered for GST/HST. The memo includes sample certificates a client can sign, and it says the CRA "will consider other forms of documentation as proof of non-residence."

A few residence rules from the same memo are worth knowing:

• Corporations: a corporation incorporated in Canada is deemed resident here. A foreign-incorporated corporation can still be resident in Canada if its central management and control is exercised in Canada.
• Permanent establishments: "Where a non-resident person has a permanent establishment in Canada, the person is deemed to be resident in Canada in respect of, but only in respect of, the activities of the person carried on through that establishment." Billing a US company's Canadian office can therefore mean billing a resident.
• Individuals: residence is determined "according to general legal principles."

In practice, a calm habit covers most cases: keep the signed contract, the client's full foreign address and the invoice together, and add a signed non-residence declaration for any client where residence isn't obvious. Memorandum 4-5-1 dates from January 1998 (page last updated in 2018) and is still the CRA's reference on residence status as of October 2026.

Does US revenue count toward the $30,000 threshold?

Yes. When working out whether you're over $30,000, the CRA counts "revenues from taxable supplies (including zero-rated supplies) of property and services made inside and outside Canada by you and your associates", leaving out only financial services, sales of capital property and goodwill. As of October 2026, the test runs two ways: over $30,000 in a single calendar quarter (you must register right away, starting with the supply that took you over), or over $30,000 across four consecutive calendar quarters.

So a freelancer with only US clients can pass $30,000 and need to register, then charge 0% on those same invoices. Registering isn't wasted effort: it's what unlocks ITCs on your Canadian costs. If you're under the threshold, the CRA lets small suppliers register voluntarily; RC4022 notes you then charge and remit GST/HST on taxable supplies, may claim ITCs, and must stay registered for at least one year before you can ask to cancel. Our guide to the $30,000 threshold walks through both tests, and the free GST/HST registration checker runs them on your own numbers.

A worked return: one Canadian client, one US client

An illustration, not your figures. Say you're an Ontario freelancer, registered for GST/HST and filing quarterly, and from July to September 2026 you billed:

Item	Amount	GST/HST
US client, remote design work (zero-rated)	$9,000	$0
Ontario client, same work (13% HST)	$3,000	$390
Line 101: total sales, including zero-rated	$12,000
HST you collected (line 105)		$390
HST paid on business costs, claimed as ITCs (line 108)		$260
Net tax owing (line 109)		$130

If all $12,000 had come from the US client, you'd have collected $0 and could still claim the $260 of ITCs, a net tax of −$260. The CRA says that "If the total amount of tax you charged is less than the amount of your ITCs, you can claim a refund", claimed on line 114 of the return. For the full line-by-line process, see how to file a GST/HST return in Canada.

The October 31 date for quarterly filers

As of October 2026, quarterly GST/HST filers file and pay one month after the end of each reporting period, so the July–September 2026 return and payment are due October 31, 2026. That date falls on a Saturday, and the CRA treats a return as on time if it's received, or postmarked, "on or before the next business day" when a due date falls on a weekend or public holiday, which makes Monday, November 2, 2026 the practical filing deadline for the return. That page states the next-business-day rule for returns; it doesn't spell it out for payments, so a payment made by Friday, October 30 is on time without relying on it. Zero-rated US sales still belong on this return, even when they add no tax.

Keeping GST/HST separate from what you can spend

Mixed client lists are where GST/HST gets confusing: some invoices carry 13%, 14% or 15% HST, some carry 0%, and the HST you collect isn't yours to keep. VRITTI is a calm bookkeeping and tax set-aside app for self-employed Canadians that keeps GST/HST in its own bucket, separate from the income tax and CPP estimate it sets aside for your province as income lands. It's coming soon to the App Store; if that sounds calmer than reconciling a quarter at the last minute, you can join the waitlist. The bigger picture of what self-employed Canadians owe, from income tax to CPP to GST/HST, is in our guide to self-employed taxes in Canada.

Sources

• CRA — GST/HST Memorandum 4-5-3, Exports – Services and Intangible Personal Property (December 2023): section 7 general rule and exclusions, section 23 advisory/consulting/professional services, section 10 intellectual property, Example 1
• CRA — GST/HST Memorandum 4-5-1, Exports – Determining Residence Status: supplier responsibility, satisfactory evidence, sample certificates, corporate residence, permanent establishments
• CRA — RC4022, General Information for GST/HST Registrants: zero-rated vs exempt, ITCs, exports, refunds, voluntary registration, unregistered small suppliers do not charge GST/HST
• CRA — Type of supply: taxable, zero-rated and exempt
• CRA — When to register for and start charging the GST/HST: the $30,000 small-supplier test, including zero-rated supplies made inside and outside Canada
• CRA — Instructions for preparing a GST/HST return: line 101 includes zero-rated supplies; line 109 net tax; line 114 refund
• Canada.ca — 2026 tax deadlines for Canadian businesses and self-employed individuals: quarterly GST/HST filers, next-business-day rule

Last verified: October 7, 2026, against the canada.ca pages above. This article explains CRA rules in plain language; it is an estimate and general information, not tax advice for your situation. Whether a particular supply is zero-rated depends on its facts, so for anything unusual check the memoranda above, ask the CRA, or talk to a qualified accountant before relying on it.