Do barbers in Manitoba charge RST on haircuts?

No — Manitoba barbers have not charged RST on haircuts since December 1, 2021, when the province took personal services out of its 7% retail sales tax. The shampoo, pomade and beard oil sold at the till still carry 7% RST. GST at 5% applies to the cut and the product once the shop passes $30,000 or registers early — and Manitoba runs its own, separate $30,000 test for RST. This post covers the Bulletin 062 rule, a Winnipeg receipt, both thresholds, tips, chair renters and the BarberFlow setup.

What changed for haircuts on December 1, 2021?

Bulletin No. 062, Personal Services moved hair services, including haircuts, shaving, beard and moustache trimming, hairstyling, colouring and highlights onto the non-taxable list, leaving UV tanning as the only taxable personal service. Product sales stay taxable and must be segregated on the invoice. The shampoo, colour and clipper blades a shop uses on clients are taxable supplies the shop pays RST on.

What a Winnipeg receipt looks like

A Winnipeg client gets a $35 fade and buys a $22 bottle of shampoo from a shop registered for both taxes.

Bulletin No. 004, Information for Vendors calculates RST on the selling price before GST, so neither tax is charged on the other. It also requires a registered vendor to state the total RST separately on each invoice.

Does a Winnipeg barbershop need an RST number?

Only if it sells enough taxable goods, or buys them the wrong way. Manitoba's Information Notice RST 24-01, issued April 2024, says small businesses with annual taxable sales under $30,000 are not required to register and collect RST. Bulletin 062 still prints the older $10,000 figure; Bulletin 004, revised June 2024, confirms $30,000. Because haircuts are non-taxable, the test in most shops comes down to the product shelf.

• Under the line, you may skip registering — but you pay RST on everything you buy, resale stock included, keep sales records, and mark invoices "RST included" without itemizing it.
• Out-of-province suppliers that do not collect Manitoba RST disqualify you, as does selling tobacco or liquor.
• Cross $30,000 and you get one month to register through TAXcess, at no charge.

When does GST start for a Manitoba barber?

Manitoba's RST line does not move the federal one. The CRA's page on when to register for and start charging the GST/HST treats a Winnipeg shop as a small supplier until taxable revenue passes $30,000 over any four consecutive calendar quarters, haircuts included. A sale that takes you over inside one quarter is taxed itself, and a gradual crossing ends small-supplier status at the end of the month after the quarter you crossed in; the CRA allows 29 days from the effective date to register. A shop billing $45,000 a year in cuts and $6,000 in product bought from Manitoba suppliers registers for GST but not RST.

What counts toward the $30,000 GST threshold?

• Every haircut, shave and colour — RST-free does not mean GST-free.
• Retail product, at the pre-tax selling price.
• Chair rent you collect, a taxable supply of commercial space under GST/HST Memorandum 19-4-1.
• Not voluntary tips, and not a chair renter's own revenue, which counts toward their threshold instead.

Are tips taxed in Manitoba?

Neither tax touches a tip the client chooses. On the provincial side, Bulletin 062 treats a gratuity shown separately on the bill, or paid separately, as outside the selling price, so it is not taxable for RST. On the federal side, the CRA's GST/HST in special cases page draws the line at choice: a freely given tip takes no GST, but a mandatory or suggested service charge added to the bill does.

Chair renters register on their own

The CRA's barbers and hairdressers page describes a renter paying a fixed fee with their own tools and clients as normally self-employed. That renter has their own $30,000 GST test and their own RST position if they sell product. The same CRA page makes you, the shop owner, liable for both shares of the renter's EI premiums — see whether you pay EI for a chair renter. The rent they pay you takes 5% GST once you are registered.

How to configure GST and RST in BarberFlow

BarberFlow has no Manitoba template yet, and it does not need one. The British Columbia template already charges GST on everything and a 7% provincial line on products only, so a Winnipeg location needs a single rename — then Accounting records the GST and RST amounts on every payment, with a per-sale breakdown in the export.

The five mistakes Manitoba shops make most

1. Still charging RST on cuts. A POS set up before December 2021 may still run a 12% line on services. Haircuts take 5% GST only.
2. Mixing up the two thresholds. RST counts taxable product sales over a year; GST counts everything taxable, haircuts included, over four quarters.
3. Itemizing RST while unregistered. Under the small-business exception, invoices say RST is included and never show it as a line. RST collected without a number must be remitted immediately, per Bulletin 004.
4. Claiming the exception while ordering from out-of-province suppliers. Stock bought without Manitoba RST takes you out of the exception.
5. Buying backbar supplies on the RST number. Shampoo, colour and blades used on clients are for your own use. Bulletin 062 bars using the RST number to buy them tax-free.

Quick checklist

• Take RST off every service line — cuts, shaves, beard trims, styling and colour.
• Charge 7% RST on retail products, shown as its own amount on the invoice.
• Track annual taxable product sales against the $30,000 RST line, and register through TAXcess within a month of crossing it.
• Register for RST at any volume if your stock comes from out-of-province suppliers that do not charge Manitoba RST.
• Track all taxable revenue, haircuts included, across every four-quarter window against the $30,000 GST line.
• Pay RST on backbar supplies, leave client-chosen tips untaxed, and pay both shares of EI for each chair renter — their GST and RST are their own.
• Start from the British Columbia template under Settings → Locations in BarberFlow and rename PST to RST.

Running a shop west of the border? The Saskatchewan PST guide covers a 6% rate and the PST number every shop there needs. Further west, the BC PST guide runs the same split at 7% and the Alberta GST guide has no provincial tax; the Ontario HST guide covers 13%. Chair renters will find their deductions in the self-employed barber tax write-offs guide, and the sales tax on haircuts in every province hub compares them all.