Enter a price, pick the province or territory where you’re buying, and the calculator adds the sales tax and shows each tax line separately: the GST and the provincial sales tax where they’re charged separately, or a single HST line. Switch to Extract tax from total to work backwards from a receipt total instead; the reverse sales tax calculator page explains that calculation step by step.
The rate in each province, and which system it uses, is on the sales tax by province page.
How to calculate sales tax yourself
The tax is the pre-tax price multiplied by the combined rate, and the total is the price multiplied by 1 plus the rate:
Total = Price × (1 + rate)
A $250 purchase in Ontario, for example, carries $32.50 in HST, for a total of $282.50. In a province with two separate taxes, work out each one on the same pre-tax price and add them: the same $250 in British Columbia carries $12.50 in GST and $17.50 in PST. Where a provincial sales tax is charged, the GST is calculated on the price without it. Quebec stopped calculating its QST on the GST-inclusive price on January 1, 2013.
Totals at common prices
What the same price costs after tax in a few provinces, computed from the current rates:
| Purchase price | Alberta (5%) | Saskatchewan (11%) | British Columbia (12%) | Ontario (13%) | Nova Scotia (14%) | Quebec (14.975%) | New Brunswick (15%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $50 | $52.50 | $55.50 | $56.00 | $56.50 | $57.00 | $57.49 | $57.50 |
| $100 | $105.00 | $111.00 | $112.00 | $113.00 | $114.00 | $114.98 | $115.00 |
| $500 | $525.00 | $555.00 | $560.00 | $565.00 | $570.00 | $574.88 | $575.00 |
| $1,000 | $1,050.00 | $1,110.00 | $1,120.00 | $1,130.00 | $1,140.00 | $1,149.75 | $1,150.00 |
| $5,000 | $5,250.00 | $5,550.00 | $5,600.00 | $5,650.00 | $5,700.00 | $5,748.75 | $5,750.00 |
For purchases worth tens of thousands of dollars, such as a vehicle, some provinces apply special rules on top of these rates; see car sales tax by province.
Getting an accurate result
- Leave out zero-rated and exempt items. Basic groceries and prescription drugs carry no GST/HST, so a grocery receipt is usually only partly taxed. The sales tax by province page lists what isn’t taxed.
- Check provincial exemptions. A provincial sales tax may exempt things the GST taxes. One example from BC: Clothing and footwear in children's sizes are exempt from BC's PST with no paperwork. The exemption follows the item's size, not the buyer's age, so adult-sized clothing and footwear bought or rented for a child under 15 is exempt only with a signed certificate of exemption. Saskatchewan’s PST, by contrast, taxes children’s clothing.
- Use the province where you receive the item. For goods shipped to you, the rate is the one where the goods are delivered, not where the seller is.
- Expect a cent or two of rounding. Stores round each tax line, so a receipt can differ slightly from a single calculation on the total.
If you’re a business working out what to remit rather than what to pay, use the GST/HST calculator for business owners, which handles input tax credits and the Quick Method.
Reverse sales tax
- Formula: divide the total by (1 + tax rate) to get the pre-tax price
- The tax is the total minus the pre-tax price
- In provinces with two taxes, apply each rate to the pre-tax price to split them
- GST/HST-registered businesses can usually claim the GST/HST portion as input tax credits
Use the reverse button on the sales tax calculator on this page.
How the Reverse Sales Tax Formula Works
A reverse sales tax calculation recovers the original pre-tax price from a total that already includes tax. The formula is:
$$\text{Pre-tax price} = \frac{\text{After-tax total}}{1 + r}$$
where $r$ is the total sales tax rate as a decimal. Subtracting the tax from the total at the same rate doesn’t work: tax is a percentage of the pre-tax price, not of the total, so taking 13% off a total understates the price.
Step-by-Step Example: Ontario (13% HST)
Suppose a receipt shows a total of $226.00 in Ontario:
| Step | Calculation | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Identify the tax rate | Ontario HST | 13% |
| 2. Add 1 to the rate | 1 + 13% | 1.13 |
| 3. Divide the total by this factor | $226.00 ÷ 1.13 | $200.00 |
| 4. Calculate the tax paid | $226.00 − $200.00 | $26.00 |
Worked examples at different provincial tax rates
| After-tax total | Province | Tax rate | Pre-tax price | Tax amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $100.00 | Alberta | 5% | $95.24 | $4.76 |
| $100.00 | Saskatchewan | 11% | $90.09 | $9.91 |
| $100.00 | British Columbia | 12% | $89.29 | $10.71 |
| $100.00 | Ontario | 13% | $88.50 | $11.50 |
| $100.00 | Nova Scotia | 14% | $87.72 | $12.28 |
| $100.00 | Quebec | 14.975% | $86.98 | $13.02 |
| $500.00 | Ontario | 13% | $442.48 | $57.52 |
| $500.00 | British Columbia | 12% | $446.43 | $53.57 |
| $1,000.00 | Alberta | 5% | $952.38 | $47.62 |
| $1,000.00 | Nova Scotia | 14% | $877.19 | $122.81 |
Splitting a receipt with two taxes
In British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Quebec, a receipt shows the GST and the provincial tax as separate lines. If you only have the total, find the pre-tax price with the combined rate first, then apply each rate to that price. Where a provincial sales tax is charged, the GST is calculated on the price without it.
A $112.00 total in British Columbia works out like this:
- Pre-tax price: $112.00 ÷ 1.12 = $100.00
- GST (5%): $5.00
- PST (7%): $7.00
How this reverse sales tax calculator works
- Enter the after-tax total: the amount shown on your receipt or invoice.
- Select the province: this sets which rates apply.
- View the breakdown: the pre-tax price and each tax component.
If you want to add sales tax to a pre-tax price instead, use the sales tax calculator.
Why you might need a reverse sales tax calculator
Business expense tracking
When recording business expenses, you often need the tax component of a receipt total. If you are registered for the GST/HST, you can generally recover the GST/HST you paid or owe on purchases for your commercial activities as input tax credits (ITCs), provided you have the documents to support the claim and claim it within the time limit; purchases for personal use or for making exempt supplies don't qualify. ITCs reduce the GST/HST your business remits; the GST/HST calculator for business owners shows how they affect what you owe. In a province with two taxes, only the GST line counts toward a GST input tax credit, which is why splitting the two taxes matters (in Quebec, businesses registered for the QST recover the QST line separately, through input tax refunds claimed from Revenu Québec).
Receipt analysis and budgeting
Credit card and bank statements show the total charged, not the pre-tax price. A reverse calculation shows how much of each purchase went to tax.
Cross-province price comparisons
Removing the tax gives the true pre-tax price, so you can compare prices between provinces with different rates, which matters most for large purchases such as a vehicle.
Splitting shared expenses
When dividing a shared purchase, the pre-tax price lets you split costs fairly, especially if some items were zero-rated or exempt and others were taxed. The sales tax by province page lists what isn’t taxed; a receipt mixing taxed and untaxed items needs the untaxed items removed before you reverse the rest.
Related calculators
- GST/HST Calculator for Business Owners: estimate GST/HST remittance
- Income Tax Calculator: calculate federal and provincial income tax
- Land Transfer Tax Calculator: calculate property purchase taxes by province
- GST/HST new housing rebate
Sources
The figures and rules on this page come from these sources, last checked against them between September 24, 2026 and October 3, 2026. How we check facts.
- Canada Revenue Agency: GST/HST calculator (and rates)
- Canada Revenue Agency: Charge and collect the GST/HST
- Canada Revenue Agency: GST/HST: Input tax credits
- finances.gouv.qc.ca: CHANGES TO QUÉBEC’S TAX SYSTEM PURSUANT TO
- Government of British Columbia: PST 201, Children's Clothing and Footwear