New Brunswick Sales Tax Calculator

New Brunswick HST calculator: the 15% formula

New Brunswick charges a single 15% Harmonized Sales Tax: the 5% GST plus a 10% provincial part. To add it, multiply the pre-tax price by 1.15. To remove it, divide the total by 1.15. The CRA collects the whole tax, so New Brunswick businesses file one return and there is no separate provincial sales tax to track.

New Brunswick has charged HST since April 1, 1997, when it merged its provincial sales tax with the GST. The rate was 13% until June 30, 2016 and rose to 15% on July 1, 2016 (CRA GST/HST Notice 297). Reverse receipts from before that date at the old rate.

Reverse HST in New Brunswick, step by step

Use these steps to pull the HST out of a New Brunswick total, for an expense report or to check a quote.

• Step 1: confirm the purchase was fully taxable. Zero-rated items like basic groceries carry no HST. A printed book carries only 5%.
• Step 2: divide the total by 1.15. A $86.25 restaurant bill gives $75.00.
• Step 3: subtract to find the tax: $86.25 − $75.00 = $11.25 HST.
• Step 4: split it if you need to. The federal part is $3.75 and the provincial part is $7.50. A GST/HST registrant claims the whole $11.25 as one input tax credit.
• Step 5: don't take 15% of the total. 15% of $86.25 is $12.94, which overstates the tax because it charges tax on the tax.

The New Brunswick book rebate

New Brunswick has one provincial point-of-sale rebate, on printed books. The store credits the 10% provincial part at the till and charges only the 5% GST, so a $32.00 novel saves $3.20. Unlike Nova Scotia and PEI, New Brunswick has no rebate on children's clothing, footwear or diapers (CRA GI-063 lists only Ontario, Nova Scotia and PEI). Those pay the full 15%.

The CRA's GI-065 defines a qualifying book. Printed books, audiobooks that are at least 90% a reading of a printed book, religious scriptures, and book-and-CD packages qualify. Newspapers, colouring and activity books, agendas, calendars, catalogues, e-books and most newsstand magazines do not. If the rebate was missed, the buyer can claim it on form GST189 within four years.

Buying across the border: Québec, Nova Scotia and online

Under the CRA's place-of-supply rules, goods are taxed at the rate of the province where they are delivered, not where the seller is based. If you shop in person in Québec and take the item home, you pay Québec's GST and QST. On a $500.00 purchase that is $574.88, compared with $575.00 at a New Brunswick store. If the Québec store ships the item to your New Brunswick address, it should charge New Brunswick's 15% HST.

Online orders work the same way. A Canadian retailer registered for GST/HST charges 15% on goods delivered to a New Brunswick address, whether it ships from Toronto or Calgary.

Private car sales and other provincial refunds

A used car bought privately in New Brunswick does not escape the 15%. A private seller does not charge HST, so the province collects a 15% Provincial Vehicle Tax (PVT) from the buyer instead. PVT also applies to vehicles bought privately elsewhere in Canada and brought into New Brunswick for use. It does not apply to vehicles bought from a GST/HST registrant in Canada, which charge HST, or to vehicles bought outside Canada. On a $12,000 private sale, 15% comes to $1,800. The province's Finance and Treasury Board runs PVT, so questions go to its Revenue Administration Division rather than the CRA.

New Brunswick also refunds the 10% provincial part in two narrow cases, through form HST-R-02 rather than at the till. One covers a motor vehicle bought in the province that is specially equipped with a wheelchair or scooter lift, or with auxiliary driving controls, for a person a medical practitioner certifies as permanently disabled. The other covers property and services a university uses directly in research and development.

What New Brunswick HST does not apply to

New Brunswick taxes the same goods and services as the federal GST, so the CRA's type-of-supply lists apply directly. Zero-rated supplies are taxed at 0%. They include basic groceries such as milk, bread and vegetables, prescription drugs and dispensing fees, feminine hygiene products, hearing aids and artificial teeth, and most farm and fish products. Exempt supplies carry no HST either: long-term residential rent and condo fees, the sale of a home last used as a residence, most doctor and dentist services, child care for children 14 and under, tutoring in a course that follows a school curriculum, music lessons, and most banking and insurance.

Everything else pays the full 15%. That includes restaurant meals, soft drinks, candy and chips, adult and children's clothing, new homes, car repairs, hotel rooms, haircuts, and legal and accounting fees. A zero-rated supplier can still claim input tax credits on its costs. An exempt supplier cannot, which is why landlords and daycares often pay HST they cannot recover.

Charging HST as a New Brunswick business

Freelancers, tradespeople and shops in New Brunswick do not have to charge HST until they stop being small suppliers. According to the CRA, that happens when taxable sales pass $30,000 in one calendar quarter or over four consecutive quarters. In the single-quarter case, HST applies from the sale that crosses the line. You then have 29 days to register. Many small businesses register early anyway because registration lets them recover the HST on their own costs through input tax credits.

• Exempt supplies such as long-term residential rent, child care, music lessons, and most health and financial services do not count as taxable sales. You also cannot claim input tax credits on costs related to them.
• You must file a return for every reporting period, including a nil return when there is nothing to report. Paper filing draws a penalty for most registrants.
• Monthly and quarterly returns are due one month after the period ends. A sole proprietor filing annually with a December 31 year-end pays by April 30 and files by June 15.