GST/HST return line 101: total sales before tax, zero rated included

What goes on each line of the GST/HST return?

The return builds net tax in two halves: tax owed (lines 103 to 105) minus credits (lines 106 to 108), which gives line 109. That's the A minus B formula for net tax in ETA 225(1) laws-lois.justice.gc.ca. Line 101 sits above both halves and feeds no arithmetic on the regular method. This table follows the CRA's line instructions as of October 2026 canada.ca.

Electronic returns calculate lines 105, 108, 109 and 114 for you, and line 101 too when your client fills in lines 90 and 91. Paper filers also see lines 112 (110 plus 111), 113A (109 minus 112), 113B (205 plus 405) and 113C (113A plus 113B), and the sign of 113C decides whether the result lands on 114 or 115.

What belongs in line 101, and what stays out?

On the regular method, line 101 takes total revenue from supplies of property and services, zero rated and exempt supplies included, plus other revenue. Leave out the PST, GST and HST themselves, and anything already reported on an earlier return. Round to the nearest dollar, and enter 0 if there were no sales canada.ca.

Timing follows the tax. GST/HST is payable on the earlier of the day your client is paid and the day payment is due, and payment is usually due on the invoice date or the date the agreement sets, whichever comes first canada.ca. So an invoice dated in March belongs in the March period even if the customer pays in May.

Electronic filers can split line 101 instead. Line 90 takes taxable sales in Canada, zero rated supplies included but not zero rated exports. Line 91 takes exempt supplies, zero rated exports and other revenue such as goodwill, financial services, sales of capital real property and supplies made outside Canada. Line 102 reports your client's associates' taxable sales in Canada. Lines 90 and 91 then fill line 101 canada.ca.

The mistake that trips people up: line 101 is a revenue figure, not a taxable sales figure. A consultant with a US client puts those zero rated fees in line 101 (or line 91), even though no tax was charged on them. Which supplies are zero rated in the first place is on the zero rated supplies page.

How does a quarterly Ontario return end at $7,930 owing?

Your client is an Ontario consultant on the regular method, filing quarterly, with a December 31 year end. For the October to December 2026 quarter they billed $80,000 of fees to Ontario clients and $20,000 of zero rated fees to a US client. They paid HST on $15,000 of business expenses. Meals during the year cost $2,000 before HST, and their ITCs of $260 were claimed in full as they went. They also wrote off a $5,000 invoice to an unrelated customer, billed with $650 of HST, none of it ever paid.

Notice what line 101 does here: it shows $100,000, while the tax on line 103 comes from only $80,000 of it. The $20,000 gap is the zero rated work.

How do the lines change under the quick method?

Three lines work differently once your client has elected the quick method canada.ca. The election itself, the remittance rates and who is barred are on the quick method page.

So the same Ontario photographer the quick method page works through, billing $150,000 of fees, puts $169,500 on line 101 (fees plus 13% HST), $14,916 on line 103 (8.8% of $169,500), the $520 camera ITC on line 106 and the $300 credit on line 107. Zero rated and exempt sales stay out of line 101 entirely under the quick method.

Which adjustments go on lines 104 and 107?

Line 104 holds adjustments that raise net tax. The CRA's examples are recovered bad debts, ITCs claimed on passenger vehicle lease payments above the monthly limit, and 50% of meals and entertainment ITCs (20% for long haul truck drivers), with the last two charged once a year canada.ca. The CRA's line instructions still quote an older lease limit, so take the 2026 figure from the class 10.1 page, and the income tax side of the 50% rule from the meals and entertainment page.

Line 107 holds adjustments that cut net tax: bad debts written off, pension rebate amounts shared with a pension entity, and rebates your client paid or credited to customers, such as builder new housing rebates on Form GST190 canada.ca.

The bad debt formulas mirror each other canada.ca:

• Written off (line 107): GST/HST on the sale × (unpaid amount written off, tax included ÷ total sale, tax included). The debt must be written off in the books, owed by an arm's length customer, and claimed within four years of the period it was written off.
• Recovered (line 104): amount recovered × (GST/HST on the original sale ÷ total sale including GST/HST and PST), in the period the money comes in, not by amending the old return.

Line 106 has its own clock. Most registrants have until the due date of the return for the last period ending within four years after the ITC first became claimable. Listed financial institutions and businesses whose taxable supplies, with associates, passed $6 million in both the current and preceding fiscal years get two years, with exceptions for charities and for businesses making at least 90% taxable supplies canada.ca.

What goes on lines 110 to 115, 205 and 405?

Line 110 is for quarterly instalments an annual filer paid during the year. A sole proprietor with business income and a December 31 year end files by June 15 but pays by April 30, and that April payment also goes on line 110. Never put ITCs or an expected refund there canada.ca. The dates and the $3,000 instalment test are on the GST filing deadline page.

Line 111 is rebates claimed with the return, such as a GST66 or GST189 filed electronically alongside it. Rebates your client paid or credited to a customer belong on line 107, not here, and an application not yet sent stays off the return canada.ca.

Lines 205 and 405 add tax your client pays directly. Line 205 covers taxable real property or emission allowances bought by a registrant who will use them more than 50% commercially. Line 405 covers other self assessed tax, such as the provincial part of the HST on goods or services brought into a participating province, or imports used less than 90% in commercial activities canada.ca.

Line 114 shows a refund when the balance is negative; a refund of $2 or less isn't paid but goes against other balances. Line 115 shows the amount owing canada.ca.