Do barbers charge tax on haircuts in Canada?

Is there GST on every haircut in Canada?

Yes, once the barber is registered. A haircut is a taxable supply everywhere in Canada, but the CRA’s small supplier rule lets a business stay unregistered while its taxable revenue is $30,000 or less over four consecutive calendar quarters. Under that line a barber charges no GST or HST; over it, registration is mandatory.

There are two ways to cross. Pass $30,000 inside a single calendar quarter and you stop being a small supplier on the sale that took you over, and charge tax on that sale. Pass it across four consecutive quarters but not in any single one, and small-supplier status ends at the end of the month after the quarter you crossed in. Either way, the CRA requires registration within 29 days of the effective date.

The $30,000 is revenue before expenses from the worldwide taxable supplies of every business you and your associates run. For a barbershop that means cuts, beard work, colour, retail product and any chair rent you collect. Voluntary tips, which the CRA does not tax, stay out of it. The window rolls: four quarters of $9,000 is $36,000 and over the line, whatever the calendar year looks like.

Registering early is allowed and often worth it. A voluntary registrant charges tax from the effective date and may need to stay registered for at least a year, but can claim input tax credits: the GST or HST paid on chair rent, product bought for resale, clippers and software, recovered against the tax collected. The GST/HST calculator shows what GST or HST adds to a menu price in your province.

Which provinces charge HST on haircuts?

Five provinces fold their sales tax into a single harmonized sales tax with the 5% GST, and in each of them a haircut and a bottle of pomade are taxed at the same full HST rate. The CRA’s GST/HST rate table, last changed on April 1, 2025, lists:

• Ontario: 13% HST.
• Nova Scotia: 14% HST.
• New Brunswick: 15% HST.
• Prince Edward Island: 15% HST.
• Newfoundland and Labrador: 15% HST.

Nova Scotia is the one that moved. The province cut its share of the HST to 9% on April 1, 2025, taking the combined rate from 15% to 14%, according to Nova Scotia Finance and Treasury Board. A Halifax price list or POS still set to 15% has been over-collecting since that date.

HST is one tax on one return, so an HST-province shop has a single tax line on every receipt. The Ontario HST guide covers the 13% side in detail, and the Atlantic Canada HST guide covers Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, PEI and Newfoundland and Labrador.

Which provinces exempt haircuts from PST?

British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Manitoba each run a provincial sales tax beside the GST, and all three exempt personal services such as haircuts. A barber in those provinces charges 5% GST on the cut and no provincial tax, then adds the provincial tax to retail product.

• British Columbia: Bulletin PST 138 says you do not charge PST on personal services and names hair styling as one, but PST applies to any goods you sell. Product carries 5% GST plus 7% PST.
• Saskatchewan: Bulletin PST-36 lists hair cutting, trimming or styling among personal services not subject to PST, and says PST must be collected on personal care products sold at retail. Product carries 5% GST plus 6% PST.
• Manitoba: Bulletin No. 062 took RST off personal services effective December 1, 2021, naming haircuts, shaving and beard and moustache trimming. Shampoo and other product sold to clients still carries RST, so product is 5% GST plus 7% RST.

The split puts two kinds of line on most receipts. In Saskatoon, a $40 cut and a $25 pomade ring up as $40 + $2.00 GST and $25 + $1.25 GST + $1.50 PST, for $69.75; Saskatchewan calculates PST on the price before GST. A POS that applies one combined rate to the whole ticket either taxes the haircut it should not or under-taxes the pomade.

Each province registers its own tax, separately from the CRA. In BC a business that sells taxable goods must register unless it is a small seller: $10,000 or less in retail sales over the past 12 months and the next 12, and no established business premises or regular sales from commercial premises, which a storefront shop fails. Saskatchewan’s Bulletin PST-5 requires every business operating or making retail sales in the province to hold a PST number, haircut-only shops included; the small-trader exception covers only home-based sellers. Manitoba’s Bulletin RST 004 lets a business with annual taxable sales under $30,000 skip RST registration, unless it buys stock from out-of-province suppliers that do not charge Manitoba RST, and gives one month to register once sales pass it.

The province-by-province detail is in the BC PST guide, the Saskatchewan PST guide and the Manitoba RST guide.

How does Quebec tax a haircut?

Quebec charges two taxes on a haircut: 5% GST and 9.975% QST, or 14.975% combined. Both apply to services and retail product alike, and each is calculated on the selling price, so a $40 cut carries $2.00 GST and $3.99 QST, for $45.99.

Revenu Québec, not the CRA, administers the GST in Quebec, so a Quebec barber registers for both taxes with Revenu Québec and files both with it. Its general guide to the QST and GST/HST applies the same $30,000 small-supplier test: cross it in one quarter and you stop being a small supplier on that sale; cross it over four consecutive quarters and status ends at the end of the following month.

Voluntary registration works the same way, with a minimum of one year before a voluntary registrant can cancel. The Quebec GST and QST guide covers the two numbers, the two lines on the receipt and the return.

Are tips taxed?

Not when the client chooses them. The CRA’s rule in GST/HST in special cases is that a tip freely given by a customer is not subject to GST/HST, but a mandatory or suggested amount the business adds to the bill as a service charge is. Manitoba’s Bulletin No. 062 says the same for RST: a gratuity shown separately on the bill or paid separately is not part of the price.

In practice, a terminal prompt that offers 15, 18 or 20% alongside a no-tip option is the client’s choice and stays untaxed. Quebec also regulates that prompt: the Office de la protection du consommateur says suggested tip percentages must be calculated on the price before GST and QST, with an option for the client to enter their own amount. An automatic 18% on group bookings that the client cannot remove is part of the price, and GST or HST applies to it at the province’s rate. The tips guide covers the payroll side.

Does a chair renter register separately?

Yes. The CRA’s barbers and hairdressers page says a chair renter paying the owner a fixed monthly amount for a chair is normally running their own business and self-employed. Their haircut revenue counts toward their own $30,000 threshold, they register on their own number, and the shop’s registration does not cover them.

The chair rent is taxable too. GST/HST Memorandum 19-4-1 says a lease or licence of commercial real property is a taxable supply unless specifically exempted, so a registered shop owner adds GST or HST to the rent invoice at the province’s rate, and the rent counts toward the owner’s own $30,000. A registered renter claims that tax back as an input tax credit.

A renter in Saskatchewan, or one who sells product in British Columbia or Manitoba, also has the provincial registration to sort out on their own. The chair rental agreement guide covers the paperwork that goes with a renter.

How BarberFlow applies the right rate

Tax in BarberFlow is set per location, so a shop with chairs in Toronto and Calgary runs 13% HST at one and 5% GST at the other under one account. Each tax line applies to Services + products, Services only or Products only, which is how the PST and RST splits work: the regional templates cover Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta and Quebec and adapt to Saskatchewan, Manitoba and the territories, and Custom takes the Atlantic HST line. Accounting lists the tax lines on every payment, exportable for any date range for the return.