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Ontario Sales Tax Calculator 2026 | 13% HST

Updated

This calculator adds Ontario’s HST to a price, split into the federal and provincial parts, or switches to reverse mode to find the pre-tax price in a total.

What do you want to do?
Amount Before Tax (Pre-Tax)
Total After Tax
Pre-Tax Amount
GST
Total Tax

Stores round the tax on each receipt, so a total can differ from this result by a cent or two.

How the HST works in Ontario

Ontario charges the 13% Harmonized Sales Tax: the 5% federal GST plus an 8% provincial part, collected as one tax by the Canada Revenue Agency. A $3,000 furniture set costs $3,390.00 after tax, of which $240.00 is the provincial part.

Ontario is the only HST province outside Atlantic Canada. For comparison, Nova Scotia charges 14%, and New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island 15%. Neighbouring Quebec charges 14.975% as two separate taxes, and Manitoba 12%. The sales tax by province page compares every province.

From PST to HST

Ontario replaced its separate 8% provincial sales tax with the HST on July 1, 2010, keeping the same provincial rate and applying it to most goods and services. Since then the Canada Revenue Agency has administered and collected the provincial part together with the GST, so a business files one return with one agency. Ontario still charges its retail sales tax in a few places the HST doesn’t reach: some insurance premiums and private used-vehicle sales, covered below.

Point-of-sale rebates

Ontario rebates the 8% provincial part of the HST at the till on printed books, print newspapers, children's clothing and footwear, diapers, car seats and booster seats and prepared food and beverages. On those items the store charges only the 5% GST. The Atlantic HST provinces rebate fewer items: books everywhere, and children’s clothing only in PEI and Nova Scotia.

  • Prepared food and beverages qualify only when everything bought at one time comes to $4 or less before tax, such as a coffee and a muffin. Alcohol never qualifies.
  • Children’s goods means items designed for babies and children; adult sizes bought for a child carry the full rate.

The Canada Revenue Agency runs these rebates for Ontario. If a store doesn’t apply one, you can claim it back on Form GST189. Basic groceries and prescription drugs carry no HST at all under the federal rules, which the zero-rated and exempt section explains.

The separate tax on insurance

The HST doesn’t apply to insurance premiums, but Ontario charges its own 8% retail sales tax on taxable insurance contracts, which includes homeowners policies. Compulsory auto insurance is exempt, as are individual life and health insurance policies. A $1,500 home insurance premium carries $120 of this tax.

The same retail sales tax applies, at the full 13%, when you buy a used vehicle privately and register it at ServiceOntario; the car sales tax by province page compares that with other provinces.

Buying a new home

A newly built home in Ontario carries the full 13% HST, and Ontario is one of the few provinces that rebates part of its provincial share, alongside the federal rebate on the GST share. First-time buyers can qualify for larger rebates on both parts. The GST/HST new housing rebate page covers each rebate’s price limits and how to claim it, and the Ontario land transfer tax calculator covers the other large tax on a home purchase.