Ontario HST in 2026: The 13% Rate, Point-of-Sale Rebates, New Home Rebates and Worked Examples

Ontario's HST is the single sales tax most Ontarians and Ontario businesses deal with every day, yet the headline 13% hides a lot of detail: which items only carry 5%, how the C$4 food rule works at a coffee counter, what a new-home buyer can get back in 2026, and where Ontario still charges its old retail sales tax. This guide is for shoppers, small business owners and bookkeepers who want the rate, the rebates and the reasons in one place, with worked C$ examples you can check in our Canada GST/HST calculator.

Quick answer

Ontario charges 13% HST — 5% federal GST plus an 8% provincial part — on most goods and services supplied in the province. The provincial part is rebated at the till on a short list of essentials, and buyers of new homes can recover much of it through housing rebates.

• Rate in 2026: 13%, unchanged since HST began on 1 July 2010

• Point-of-sale rebate: children's clothing, footwear, car seats, diapers, books, newspapers and food or drink totalling C$4 or less pay only 5%

• New homes: up to C$24,000 back normally; up to C$80,000 for agreements signed 1 April 2026 – 31 March 2027

• Businesses register once with the CRA and file one GST/HST return for both parts

• Ontario still charges 8% RST on some insurance and 13% RST on private used-car sales

What Ontario HST is and how the 13% splits

The harmonized sales tax is the federal GST and a provincial value-added tax collected together as one tax. In Ontario the federal part is 5% and the provincial part is 8%, which is why receipts show a single 13% line rather than two taxes. Ontario switched to this system on 1 July 2010, when it folded its old 8% retail sales tax into the HST and handed administration to the Canada Revenue Agency.

The split matters more than it first appears. Every Ontario rebate in this guide is a refund of all or part of the 8% provincial part, while federal relief targets the 5% part. When you see an item "exempt from the provincial portion", the customer still pays the 5% GST. And because the HST is a value-added tax, a registered business charges 13% on its sales but claims back the 13% it pays on business inputs, so the tax lands on the final consumer rather than at every step of the supply chain.

The tax base is the same as the federal GST base. Basic groceries, most prescription drugs, many medical devices and exports are zero-rated, so no HST applies. Long-term residential rent, most health and dental services, child care and most financial services are exempt. Everything else — from restaurant meals and haircuts to software subscriptions and renovation work — is taxable at 13% when the supply is made in Ontario.

When a sale is taxed at Ontario's 13%

A business doesn't charge 13% because it is located in Ontario; it charges 13% when the supply is made in Ontario under the place-of-supply rules. For goods, that is generally where you deliver them or make them available. For most services, it is the province of the customer's business or home address that you obtain in the ordinary course of business. Services tied to real property are taxed where the property is.

So a Mississauga e-commerce seller charges 13% on a parcel shipped to Kingston, 14% on one shipped to Halifax and 5% on one shipped to Calgary. A Toronto web developer billing a client in Vancouver charges 5% GST, not Ontario HST. Our GST/HST rates by province guide covers these rules with more cross-border examples, and the how to calculate HST guide walks through the arithmetic for each rate.

The flip side catches out-of-province sellers. A Calgary furniture retailer delivering a sofa to Ottawa charges 13% HST, even though it never sets foot in Ontario, as long as it is registered for GST/HST. Most small sellers outside Ontario are registered once they pass the C$30,000 small supplier threshold, and from then on the destination province sets the rate.

Ontario point-of-sale rebates: items that carry only 5%

Ontario rebates the 8% provincial part at the till on a list of everyday items. The retailer simply charges 5% instead of 13%, so shoppers rarely notice — until a till is set up wrong. The Government of Ontario's list, administered by the CRA, is:

Worked example — a back-to-school trip in Hamilton. A parent buys a child's winter jacket for C$80, children's boots for C$50, a printed novel for C$25 and an adult jacket for C$120. The child's jacket, boots and book qualify, so they carry 5%: (C$80 + C$50 + C$25) × 0.05 = C$7.75. The adult jacket carries full HST: C$120 × 0.13 = C$15.60. Total tax C$23.35. Charged 13% on everything, the bill would have shown C$35.75 of tax — C$12.40 more, which is exactly 8% of the C$155 of rebated items.

Worked example — the C$4 food rule. A Kitchener café sells a C$2.25 coffee and a C$1.60 muffin. The order totals C$3.85, under the C$4 limit, so only GST applies: C$3.85 × 0.05 = C$0.19, for C$4.04 at the till. If the customer adds a second muffin, the order becomes C$5.45 and the limit is measured on the total, so the whole order takes 13%: C$0.71 of HST. Splitting one order into two transactions to dodge the limit isn't the intended use; the rule looks at what is sold together.

What to do if you were charged 13% on a rebated item

The quickest fix is at the store: show the receipt and ask for the 8% to be credited. If that doesn't work, you can claim it directly from the CRA on Form GST189, General Application for GST/HST Rebates, using reason code 16. The deadline is 4 years after the provincial part became payable, and the CRA won't pay a claim that totals C$2 or less — so a household usually batches several receipts into one claim. On imported items that qualify, the Canada Border Services Agency deducts the rebate automatically.

Status Indians and Ontario First Nations bands and band councils have a separate, broader point-of-sale rebate of the 8% provincial part on qualifying off-reserve purchases. Retailers need to see the status card and record the registration number to give it.

Ontario HST on new homes: the 2026 rebates

New homes are where the provincial part costs the most, and where Ontario's rebates are largest. On a C$900,000 new house, 13% HST is C$117,000: C$45,000 federal and C$72,000 provincial. Four programs can bring that down, and which ones apply depends on the price, your first-time buyer status and the date you signed the agreement with the builder.

The regular Ontario new housing rebate. Available on any new or substantially renovated home you'll live in as your primary place of residence, it refunds 75% of the provincial part to a maximum of C$24,000 (or C$16,080 if you didn't pay HST on the land). Unlike the federal rebate, there is no price ceiling. Most builders credit it on the agreement of purchase and sale, which is why Ontario new-home prices are usually quoted "HST included, net of rebates assigned to the builder".

The federal new housing rebate. It refunds 36% of the federal part to a maximum of C$6,300, but it starts shrinking above C$350,000 and disappears at C$450,000, so few Ontario buyers get it.

The Ontario enhanced new housing rebate (ENHR). A temporary program for agreements of purchase and sale signed with a builder — or owner-built construction started — between 1 April 2026 and 31 March 2027. It covers 100% of the provincial part on homes up to C$1 million, a flat C$80,000 on homes from C$1 million to C$1.5 million, a partial amount up to C$1.85 million, and above that only the regular C$24,000. The CRA describes C$80,000 as the combined ceiling for provincial-part rebates, so it replaces rather than adds to the regular rebate.

The Ontario New Home Affordability Payment (ONHAP). Ontario's own top-up of up to C$50,000, equal to up to 100% of the 5% federal part, for buyers who qualify for the enhanced rebate. It is reduced by any federal rebate you're entitled to, including the federal first-time home buyers' rebate, and you claim it simply by ticking the consent-to-share box on the CRA rebate form. Ontario says the federal cost-share still depends on federal legislation, so check the status before counting on it.

Ontario new home HST relief (2026)

C$24,000

Regular Ontario rebate

75% of the provincial part, any price

C$80,000

Enhanced rebate cap

Agreements 1 Apr 2026 – 31 March 2027

C$50,000

ONHAP top-up

Up to 100% of the federal part

C$1.85 million

Enhanced relief ends

Only the regular rebate above this

Worked example — a C$900,000 townhouse in Barrie, agreement signed June 2026, not a first-time buyer. HST is C$117,000. The enhanced rebate covers the full provincial part: C$72,000 (inside the C$80,000 cap). The federal new housing rebate is nil at this price, and the buyer isn't a first-time buyer, so ONHAP can cover the full federal part: C$45,000. If everything is approved, net HST is C$0 instead of C$93,000 under the regular rules.

The same townhouse, agreement signed in 2025. Only the regular Ontario rebate applies: C$24,000. Net HST: C$117,000 − C$24,000 = C$93,000. The signing date alone moves the bill by C$93,000, which is why buyers and builders watch the 31 March 2027 cut-off.

First-time buyers. The federal first-time home buyers' rebate refunds 100% of the federal part on new homes up to C$1 million, phasing out at C$1.5 million, for agreements signed from 20 March 2025 and before 2031. Ontario has announced a matching rebate of the provincial part for first-time buyers on the same dates; the CRA describes it as a top-up to the Ontario new housing rebate, while the 2026 Ontario Budget annex lists it as still awaiting federal regulations. If you qualify for both the Ontario first-time buyer rebate and the enhanced rebate, the CRA says you can claim either or both, but total provincial-part rebates can't exceed the lesser of C$80,000 and the provincial HST you paid.

Purpose-built rental developers have parallel programs — the federal and Ontario rebates for new residential rental property, plus an Ontario enhanced rental rebate for projects started in the same window. Those claims are made on Form GST524 and the Ontario schedule rather than through the builder.

Ontario HST for businesses: registration, invoices and returns

There is no separate Ontario sales tax number. You register for GST/HST once with the CRA, and the same number covers Ontario's provincial part and every other province. Registration becomes mandatory once your worldwide taxable sales pass C$30,000 in a single quarter or over four consecutive quarters; our GST registration guide explains the test.

Once registered, you charge 13% on taxable supplies made in Ontario, show your GST/HST number on invoices, and file the GST/HST return monthly, quarterly or annually. The return doesn't separate the federal and provincial parts: line 103 holds all the GST and HST you collected or charged, at whatever rate applied, and line 106 holds your input tax credits (ITCs). Invoices of C$100 or more need your registration number on them for your business customers to claim ITCs.

Worked example — an Ottawa design studio's quarter. The studio bills C$48,000 to Ontario clients, C$6,000 to a client in Montreal and C$4,000 to a client in Halifax.

• HST on Ontario clients: C$48,000 × 0.13 = C$6,240
• GST on the Quebec client: C$6,000 × 0.05 = C$300 (the studio isn't registered for QST)
• HST on the Nova Scotia client: C$4,000 × 0.14 = C$560
• Line 103: C$7,100

Its Ontario business purchases for the quarter — rent, software, a new laptop and supplies — carry C$1,950 of HST, all claimable as ITCs. Net tax on line 109: C$7,100 − C$1,950 = C$5,150. If the studio's annual taxable sales stay at or below C$400,000, it could consider the quick method, where an Ontario service business remits 8.8% of its HST-included sales instead of tracking ITCs.

Setting up Ontario HST in your business

1. 1

   Register with the CRA

   Apply for a GST/HST account through Business Registration Online, My Business Account or by phone once you pass the C$30,000 test — or earlier, voluntarily, to claim ITCs.

2. 2

   Set rates by place of supply

   Configure 13% for Ontario customers and the right rate for every other province; don't hard-code 13% for everyone.

3. 3

   Flag point-of-sale rebate items

   Retailers selling children's goods, books, diapers, car seats, newspapers or low-priced prepared food need a 5% tax code for those items.

4. 4

   Keep ITC paperwork

   Keep supplier invoices showing their GST/HST number for purchases of C$100 or more.

5. 5

   File and pay on time

   Report all GST/HST collected on line 103, ITCs on line 106, and pay the line 109 balance by the due date.

Retailers: setting up rebate items correctly

Point-of-sale rebate errors are the most common Ontario-specific mistake. A children's store that treats every item as 13% overcharges customers and has to refund or credit them; a store that treats adult sizes as children's undercharges and owes the difference on its next return. Map each product to a tax code based on the size and type rules in the table above rather than the department it sits in. For food service, the C$4 test applies to the total price of qualifying food and drinks in the sale, so your point-of-sale system has to evaluate the order as a whole, then apply either 5% or 13% to every item in it.

Businesses don't lose anything on rebated items: you collect only the GST, report it on line 103, and still claim full ITCs on your purchases. A business that buys rebated items — say a daycare buying diapers — pays only the 5% and claims that as an ITC if it is registered and the purchase relates to taxable activities.

Where Ontario still charges retail sales tax

When Ontario harmonized in 2010, it kept its retail sales tax in a few places the HST doesn't reach. They're easy to miss because they're paid outside the GST/HST system.

Insurance premiums and benefit plans. Ontario charges 8% RST on premiums for taxable insurance contracts, group insurance and certain funded or unfunded benefit plans. Insurers collect it, and employers with self-insured benefit plans may have to report it themselves. Insurance itself is exempt from HST, so this is the only sales tax on most premiums.

Private used-vehicle sales. When you buy a used car, van or truck privately from someone who isn't a GST/HST registrant, there's no HST — instead you pay 13% RST at ServiceOntario when you register the vehicle. The tax is calculated on the greater of the price paid and the Canadian Red Book wholesale value, subject to some exceptions.

Worked example — private car purchase in London, Ontario. You buy a used hatchback from a neighbour for C$12,000; its Red Book wholesale value is C$13,500. RST = C$13,500 × 0.13 = C$1,755, paid at ServiceOntario. Had you bought the same car from a dealer for C$12,000, the dealer would charge C$1,560 of HST on the sale price instead.

Recent and upcoming Ontario HST changes

The Ontario HST rate itself hasn't moved since 2010, and nothing announced as of October 2026 changes it. The changes that matter are in the rebates:

Ontario HST milestones

1 Jul 2010

HST replaces Ontario's 8% RST; rate 13% (5% federal + 8% provincial)

20 Mar 2025

Agreements from this date can qualify for the federal first-time home buyers' rebate; Ontario announces matching provincial relief

1 Apr 2026

Ontario enhanced new housing rebate and enhanced rental rebate begin (temporary)

Sep 2026

Ontario publishes details of the New Home Affordability Payment (up to C$50,000)

31 March 2027

Last day to sign an agreement (or start construction) for the enhanced rebate

For households, the Ontario sales tax credit — up to C$378 per adult and per child for the current benefit year — is paid with the Ontario Trillium Benefit and offsets some HST for lower-income families. It's an income-tested credit rather than a sales tax rebate, and you get it by filing your income tax return. The federal GST/HST credit is paid separately on top.

Common Ontario HST mistakes and how to fix them

Charging 13% on everything. Out-of-province customers often take a different rate. Fix it by capturing the delivery or billing address and letting the rate follow it.

Missing the point-of-sale rebate. Children's sizes, books and small food orders take 5%. If you overcharged, refund or credit the customer; if a customer was overcharged by someone else, point them to Form GST189.

Rounding each line on a big order. Calculate tax on each rate's subtotal and round once, as the CRA allows. The how to calculate HST guide shows how much rounding every line can over-collect.

Assuming the builder handled every housing rebate. Builders credit the rebates they can, but you may still need to file directly — for example, if you bought a home you'll rent out, or the enhanced rebate wasn't credited. File within two years of the relevant date to stay inside the time limit.

Forgetting RST on a private car purchase. It isn't optional; ServiceOntario won't transfer the ownership without it.

Add 13% Ontario HST to a C$1,250 invoice

Add TaxRemove Tax

AmountTax Rate

5% GST (AB, NT, NU, YT)13% HST (ON)14% HST (NS)15% HST (NB, NL, PE)11% GST+PST (SK)12% GST+PST (BC, MB)14.975% GST+QST (QC)

Net Amount (Before Tax)$1,250.00

Tax (13%)$162.50

Gross Amount (Including Tax)$1,412.50

Open the full GST/HST Calculator (PDF, save, compare)

Official links

• CRA — GST/HST calculator and ratesCurrent rates by province
• Ontario — HST point-of-sale rebatesEligible items and conditions
• CRA — Form GST189 and Guide RC4033Claim a missed point-of-sale rebate
• CRA — Ontario enhanced new housing rebateEligibility, tiers and how to apply
• CRA — RC4028 GST/HST New Housing RebateRegular Ontario and federal rebates
• Ontario — New Home Affordability PaymentTop-up of the federal part
• Ontario — Retail sales taxRST on insurance and private vehicle sales

What to do next

If you sell in Ontario, check that your invoicing or till software has a 13% code, a 5% code for rebate items, and the right rates for other provinces — the GST/HST rates by province table lists them all. If you're buying a new home, note the date on your agreement of purchase and sale, ask your builder which rebates it is crediting, and confirm the enhanced rebate and first-time buyer status with the CRA before closing. For quick sums, use our Canada GST/HST calculator; for the Atlantic provinces, see our guides to Nova Scotia HST, New Brunswick HST and Newfoundland and Labrador HST.

This is general information, not legal or tax advice — confirm on the official source or with a professional.

Frequently asked questions

What is the HST rate in Ontario?

Ontario's HST is 13%: the 5% federal GST plus an 8% provincial part. It applies to most goods and services supplied in Ontario and has been the same rate since the HST replaced Ontario's retail sales tax on 1 July 2010. The CRA collects both parts through one GST/HST return.

What items get the Ontario point-of-sale rebate?

The 8% provincial part is rebated at the till on printed books and audio books, children's clothing and footwear, children's car seats and booster seats, diapers, print newspapers, and qualifying prepared food and drinks sold for a total of C$4 or less. Shoppers pay only the 5% GST on these items.

Is there HST on a coffee and muffin in Ontario?

Only the 5% GST, if the total price of the qualifying prepared food and drinks is C$4 or less. A C$2.25 coffee and a C$1.60 muffin (C$3.85) attract 19 cents of GST. Add a second muffin and the total passes the limit, so the full 13% HST applies to the whole order.

How much is the Ontario HST rebate on a new home?

The regular Ontario new housing rebate is 75% of the provincial part, up to C$24,000, with no price cap. For agreements signed from 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027, the temporary enhanced rebate refunds up to 100% of the provincial part, to C$80,000, on homes up to C$1 million, tapering to nothing extra at C$1.85 million.

What if a store charged me 13% on a rebated item?

Ask the store to correct the receipt first. If it won't, you can claim the 8% provincial part back from the CRA with Form GST189, General Application for GST/HST Rebates, using reason code 16, within 4 years. Keep the receipt; the CRA won't pay a claim of C$2 or less.

Does Ontario still have retail sales tax?

Yes, in a few places the HST didn't replace. Ontario charges 8% RST on taxable insurance premiums and certain benefit plans, and 13% RST on used vehicles bought privately from someone who isn't a GST/HST registrant, paid by the buyer at ServiceOntario when registering the vehicle.

Sources & verification

Figures on this page were checked against the sources below when it was last reviewed on 12 October 2026. Each rate and limit is stored once with its own official source and review date, and official update channels are monitored daily so changes are picked up. How we verify

1. 1.GST/HST calculator (and rates) — Canada Revenue Agency · accessed 12 October 2026
2. 2.HST: Ontario point-of-sale rebates — Government of Ontario · accessed 12 October 2026
3. 3.Point-of-Sale Rebate on Children's Goods (GI-063) — Canada Revenue Agency · accessed 12 October 2026
4. 4.RC4028 GST/HST New Housing Rebate — Canada Revenue Agency · accessed 12 October 2026
5. 5.What is the Ontario enhanced new housing rebate (ENHR) — Canada Revenue Agency · accessed 12 October 2026
6. 6.The Ontario New Home Affordability Payment — Government of Ontario · accessed 12 October 2026
7. 7.First-time home buyers' GST/HST rebate — Who can apply — Canada Revenue Agency · accessed 12 October 2026
8. 8.2026 Ontario Budget — Annex — Ontario Ministry of Finance · accessed 12 October 2026
9. 9.Retail Sales Tax — Government of Ontario · accessed 12 October 2026
10. 10.Retail Sales Tax: Specified Vehicles — Government of Ontario · accessed 12 October 2026
11. 11.Ontario's new HST rebate: key details — Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP · accessed 12 October 2026