How to Calculate Canadian Tax

If you are traveling to Canada, you'll most likely be making some purchases there. Like the United States, Canada taxes most sales. Canada has both a goods and services tax (GST) and a harmonized sales tax (HST).

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Calculator

1. Check the current GST and HST rates. As of late 2009, the GST was 5 percent and the HST was 13 percent. You can check the current rate at www.cra.gc.ca.

2. Add the rates together to get the total tax rate. Based on the 2009 rates, it would be 18 percent.

3. Multiply the price of the item by the tax rate (as it would be in percent form). For example, an $100 item multiplied by 0.18 for an 18-percent tax rate would equal $18, which is the amount of tax you will pay on the item.

4. Add the price of the item to the calculated tax. For the example above, the total amount you'll pay is $118.

Tips & Warnings

• If you are in Canada on business, such as sponsoring a foreign convention, you may qualify to get some of the taxes back. This falls under the Foreign Convention and Tour Incentive Program.

References

• Canada Revenue Agency