If you need to cancel a GST/HST account in Canada, do not simply stop charging tax or filing returns. Your account remains open until the CRA approves a cancellation date, and you must keep filing — even nil returns — while it is active. Closing it properly also means filing a final return and dealing with any tax on business property you still hold.
When can you cancel a GST/HST account in Canada?
The CRA may close your GST/HST account when registration is no longer required. Common situations include:
- You stopped operating the business or making taxable supplies
- You sold the business and the old entity will no longer operate it
- Your business now makes only exempt supplies
- You are again a small supplier and no longer need to be registered
- You registered in error
A temporary slow month is not enough. If your sales fell below $30,000, confirm that you actually meet the CRA's small-supplier test. Our guide to how the GST/HST threshold works explains the four-consecutive-calendar-quarter measurement.
If you registered voluntarily, you generally must remain registered for at least one year before the CRA will cancel the account. An exception may apply if you stop commercial activities. If the business is still required to register — for example, because taxable supplies remain above the threshold — cancellation is not an option.
Should you cancel just because revenue dropped?
Not necessarily. Remaining registered lets you claim input tax credits on eligible business purchases, but it also means continuing to collect tax, keep records, and file returns. Cancellation reduces administration, although you lose the ability to claim new ITCs and may need to absorb GST/HST on your costs. Review how GST/HST input tax credits work before deciding.
Consider near-term sales too. Cancelling and then quickly crossing $30,000 again can create more paperwork and require a new registration. If the slowdown is temporary, keeping the account may be simpler.
How to request GST/HST account closure
A sole proprietor, partner, corporate director, or authorized representative can request closure through the CRA. The practical routes are:
- Use the CRA's online business account services, where available
- Call the CRA business enquiries line
- Send Form RC145, Request to Close Business Number Program Accounts
Be ready to provide the legal name, business number and GST/HST program account, the reason for closing, the date operations ended, and the requested effective date. Keep the CRA's written confirmation. Until you receive it, do not assume the account is closed.
File a final GST/HST return
Cancellation does not erase the last reporting period. File a final return for the period ending on the day before the cancellation becomes effective. Report GST/HST collected or collectible, claim eligible ITCs, and pay the net amount by the deadline shown by the CRA. For the mechanics, see how to file a GST/HST return; the same core lines apply to a final return.
Review unpaid invoices as well. Tax can become reportable before a client actually pays, so closing the account does not make outstanding GST/HST disappear.
Watch for tax on property you keep
The most easily missed issue is business property. When you cease to be a registrant, the GST/HST rules may treat certain property as though you sold it and collected tax immediately before cancellation. This can include inventory, equipment, or capital property on which you claimed ITCs. Different rules and exceptions apply by property type, so list every asset you keep and ask an accountant about material amounts before filing the final return.
Keep records after the account closes
Save invoices, receipts, returns, working papers, the RC145 request, and the CRA cancellation notice. Closing a program account does not end your normal record-retention obligations or prevent the CRA from reviewing an earlier period.
Before cancellation, use HST Hero to check your rolling taxable revenue and confirm whether you are genuinely back below the small-supplier threshold. After closure, keep monitoring new freelance or sole-proprietor sales: if taxable supplies grow past the threshold again, you may have to register again.
The bottom line
Ask the CRA to approve the effective date, continue filing until it does, submit your final return, and account for property still held by the business. A clean cancellation prevents forgotten nil returns, unexpected assessments, and confusion if you restart the business later.