Canada GST/HST Invoice Requirements: CRA Compliance Guide

Canadian GST/HST invoices must include specific information based on the purchase amount. Transactions under $30 require the supplier name, date, and total. Between $30 and $150, the supplier's GST/HST registration number and payment terms are also mandatory. Above $150, the CRA requires the buyer's name, itemized descriptions, and individual tax amounts shown separately.

This guide approaches Canada GST/HST invoice requirements from the perspective you actually work in: the accounts payable side. You received an invoice from a Canadian supplier, and before you claim input tax credits on that purchase, you need to confirm the document contains every field the CRA requires. That verification step is not optional. Incomplete or non-compliant invoices remain the most common reason the Canada Revenue Agency disallows ITC claims during an audit, turning what should be a straightforward tax recovery into a costly reassessment.

The sections that follow cover the specific Canadian tax invoice rules you need to apply at your desk:

The CRA's three-tier documentation system: exactly which fields are required at each purchase threshold, consolidated into a single reference table
The supplier name-matching enforcement trap: a registration-name discrepancy that catches experienced AP teams off guard during CRA reviews
A practical ITC validation workflow: how to check incoming invoices against CRA requirements before you process them
Provincial differences between HST and GST-only jurisdictions: what changes on the invoice depending on where your supplier operates
Common CRA audit triggers for ITC claims: the patterns and errors that flag your file for review

Each section is built as a working reference for protecting your ITC claims.

CRA's Three-Tier Invoice Documentation System

The CRA does not apply a single standard to every invoice. Instead, it requires different levels of documentation depending on the total purchase amount, including GST/HST. This three-tier system is defined in the Input Tax Credit Information (GST/HST) Regulations under the Excise Tax Act, Section 169. The two primary reference publications are CRA Memorandum 8-4 and the general GST/HST guide RC4022.

For AP teams and accountants processing incoming invoices, this tiered structure determines exactly which fields you need to verify before claiming an input tax credit.

Required Field	Under $30 (Simplified)	$30 to $149.99 (Intermediate)	$150 and Over (Full)
Supplier name or trading name	Yes	Yes	Yes
Date of invoice (or date GST/HST paid or payable)	Yes	Yes	Yes
Total amount paid or payable	Yes	Yes	Yes
Supplier's GST/HST registration number	No	Yes	Yes
Terms of payment, or indication that GST/HST was charged and total tax amount (or a statement that the total includes GST/HST)	No	Yes	Yes
Buyer's name or trading name (or authorized agent/representative)	No	No	Yes
Brief description of goods or services	No	No	Yes
Each GST/HST amount shown separately per tax rate	No	No	Yes
Total GST/HST charged	No	No	Yes

A critical detail on thresholds: The $30 and $150 cutoffs refer to the total amount including tax, not the pre-tax subtotal. A pre-tax amount of $140 with 13% HST totals $158.20, which pushes that invoice into the $150-and-over tier. Misjudging the tier means you may accept an invoice that lacks required fields for the actual threshold that applies.

When you receive an invoice, the verification sequence is straightforward. Check the total amount first to determine which tier applies. Then confirm every field for that tier is present on the document. For more context on understanding each field on an invoice, you can map each line item and tax entry directly against these ITC documentary requirements. A single missing field, whether it is the registration number on a $50 purchase or the buyer name on a $200 purchase, gives the CRA grounds to disallow the input tax credit at audit.

Even when an invoice includes every required field for its tier, that alone does not guarantee the CRA will accept your ITC claim. The supplier information on the invoice must match what the CRA has on file, and discrepancies in that matching process are one of the most common reasons otherwise valid claims get denied.

The Supplier Name-Matching Trap

One of the most overlooked ITC compliance risks has nothing to do with missing fields or incorrect tax rates. It comes down to a single detail: the supplier name on the invoice must match the name registered in the CRA's GST/HST Registry. When it does not, the CRA can deny your input tax credit claim at audit, even if every other requirement on the invoice is satisfied.

This catches AP teams off guard because the mismatch is often subtle. A supplier sends an invoice under their trading name, "Joe's Plumbing," but the CRA registry lists the legal entity as "Joseph Smith Plumbing Inc." Or a subsidiary invoices you under its parent company's name. Or the invoice abbreviates "Limited" to "Ltd." while the registry carries the full word. These discrepancies look minor, but from the CRA's perspective, the invoice does not identify a valid GST/HST registrant, and your ITC claim lacks proper CRA ITC documentation.

How to verify supplier registration. The CRA provides a free online GST/HST Registry lookup tool. Enter the supplier's business number (the 9-digit BN followed by "RT" and a 4-digit program account number), and the tool returns the registrant's legal name, their business number, and whether the GST/HST registration is currently active. Cross-reference these results against what appears on the invoice. If the legal name returned by the registry does not match the supplier name on the invoice, you have a mismatch that needs resolution before you file your ITC claim.

Handling mismatches. When you identify a discrepancy, the safest course is to request a corrected invoice from the supplier showing their registered legal name exactly as it appears in the CRA GST/HST Registry. This eliminates ambiguity entirely. If obtaining a corrected invoice is impractical, maintain internal documentation that links the trading name on the invoice to the verified registered name, including screenshots of the registry lookup and any correspondence confirming the relationship between the entities. The CRA may accept this as evidence of due diligence, but a corrected invoice remains the stronger position at audit.

For organizations that process invoices from dozens or hundreds of suppliers, this registry check should be part of your standard onboarding procedure for new vendors, not something you scramble to verify after a CRA inquiry. If you are building an invoice validation process, supplier name verification against the CRA registry belongs at the top of the checklist.

Supplier name verification is one step in a broader validation process. The following section organizes all the checks into a repeatable workflow.

How to Validate Incoming Invoices for Input Tax Credits

Every incoming invoice that crosses your AP desk represents a potential ITC claim, but only if the documentation meets CRA standards. A single missing field can invalidate the credit. The following workflow gives your team a repeatable process for verifying each invoice before it enters your ITC claim.

Step 1: Determine the Documentation Tier

Check the total amount of the invoice, including GST/HST. This determines which set of CRA requirements applies:

$30 or less (including tax): Simplified tier with minimal required fields.
$30.01 to $149.99 (including tax): Intermediate tier requiring additional supplier and tax details.
$150 or more (including tax): Full tier with the complete set of mandatory fields, including buyer name and itemized tax amounts.

Getting the tier wrong means checking against the wrong requirements, so start here every time.

Step 2: Verify Supplier GST/HST Registration

Locate the supplier's 9-digit business number (BN) on the invoice and look it up in the CRA GST/HST Registry. Confirm the registration is active as of the invoice date. If the status shows cancelled, suspended, or not registered, the invoice cannot support an ITC claim regardless of how complete the rest of the documentation appears. If the BN is missing from the invoice entirely, that alone disqualifies the claim under intermediate and full tier requirements.

Step 3: Confirm Supplier Name Match

Cross-reference the supplier name printed on the invoice against the registered legal name or operating name in the CRA registry. As covered in the previous section, discrepancies between the invoiced name and the registered name are a known audit trigger. If the names do not align, contact the supplier to resolve the inconsistency before processing.

Step 4: Check Tier-Specific Fields

With the correct tier identified, verify that every required field for that tier is present and complete:

For simplified-tier invoices, confirm the supplier name (or trading name), the date, and the total amount paid or payable.
For intermediate-tier invoices, add the supplier's GST/HST registration number and terms of payment (or an indication of whether GST/HST was charged and the total tax amount).
For full-tier invoices, add the buyer's name or trading name, a brief description of the goods or services, and each GST/HST amount shown separately per tax rate.

Any blank or ambiguous field is a gap that needs resolution before the ITC is claimed.

Step 5: Validate Tax Calculations

Confirm that the GST/HST amounts shown are mathematically correct. Multiply the taxable amount by the applicable rate (5% GST, or the combined HST rate for the relevant province) and compare the result to the tax amount on the invoice. Watch for rounding discrepancies on line-item-level calculations, which can compound across large invoices. Incorrect tax math does not automatically void the ITC, but it raises questions during a CRA review and may indicate deeper issues with the supplier's invoicing.

Step 6: Flag and Resolve Gaps

When any field is missing, incorrect, or unclear, do not process the ITC claim. Instead, request a corrected invoice from the supplier with the specific deficiencies identified. Document the request and the date it was made. Processing a claim against a deficient invoice shifts the compliance risk entirely onto your organization.

Scaling Validation Across High-Volume AP Operations

This six-step process applies to every incoming invoice. In an AP department handling hundreds or thousands of Canadian invoices per month, manual field-by-field verification becomes a bottleneck. Checking registration numbers against the CRA registry, confirming name matches, verifying tier-specific fields, and validating tax math on each document consumes hours that compound across every billing cycle.

Extracting GST/HST numbers, vendor names, and tax amounts from incoming invoices does not need to remain a manual task. Organizations processing high volumes of Canadian invoices can automate Canadian invoice data extraction to pull registration numbers, vendor legal names, and tax breakdowns directly from invoices in PDF and image formats, producing structured output that maps to CRA tier requirements. The compliance judgment remains yours; the data extraction does not.

Beyond individual invoice issues, the province where the supply occurs also determines whether you see GST alone or a combined HST amount on the document.

HST Provinces vs. GST-Only Provinces: What Changes on the Invoice

Not every Canadian province handles sales tax the same way, and the differences directly affect which tax amounts on an incoming invoice qualify for input tax credits. AP teams processing invoices from suppliers across multiple provinces need to recognize two distinct models and adjust their ITC calculations accordingly.

HST Provinces: One Combined Tax, Full ITC Eligibility

Five provinces operate under the Harmonized Sales Tax, where the federal GST and provincial sales tax are merged into a single tax administered by the CRA:

Ontario: 13% HST
New Brunswick: 15% HST
Nova Scotia: 15% HST
Newfoundland and Labrador: 15% HST
Prince Edward Island: 15% HST

Because the CRA administers the entire HST, the full tax amount shown on the invoice is eligible for ITC claims. An invoice from an Ontario supplier showing $130 HST on a $1,000 purchase means the entire $130 can be claimed as an input tax credit, provided the invoice meets the applicable tier documentation requirements.

CRA HST invoice requirements for these provinces are straightforward from an ITC perspective: verify the registration number, confirm the tax amount, and claim the full HST.

GST-Only Provinces: Separate the GST from the PST

The remaining provinces apply the federal GST at 5%, and three of them also levy their own Provincial Sales Tax:

Alberta: 5% GST only (no provincial sales tax)
British Columbia: 5% GST + 7% PST
Saskatchewan: 5% GST + 6% PST
Manitoba: 5% GST + 7% RST (Retail Sales Tax)

The critical distinction: PST (or RST) is a separate provincial levy. It is not administered by the CRA and is not recoverable as an input tax credit. Only the 5% GST portion qualifies for ITCs.

When an invoice from a British Columbia supplier shows $50 GST and $70 PST on a $1,000 purchase, the ITC claim is limited to the $50 GST. The $70 PST is a cost of the purchase, not a recoverable federal tax credit.

When GST and PST Are Not Separated

This is where invoice processing gets problematic. Some suppliers in British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba show a single combined "tax" line without breaking GST and PST into separate amounts. When that happens, you cannot determine the GST portion eligible for ITCs.

Request a corrected invoice. A combined tax line that lumps GST and PST together does not give you the documentation needed to support the ITC claim for the GST portion. Most accounting software requires the GST amount as a discrete field, and CRA auditors expect to see it identified separately on the supporting invoice.

Quebec: A Separate System Entirely

Quebec operates its own sales tax regime. The Quebec Sales Tax (QST) is administered by Revenu Quebec, not the CRA. Invoices from Quebec suppliers carry their own documentation requirements for provincial input tax refunds, and those requirements fall outside the scope of GST/HST compliance. If your organization processes a significant volume of Quebec invoices, the QST refund process requires separate attention under Revenu Quebec's rules.

Organizations that also handle invoices from international suppliers face entirely separate documentation standards per jurisdiction. For a comparison with another common regime, see UK VAT invoice compliance requirements.

With tier requirements and provincial tax treatment verified, the remaining question is what patterns draw CRA scrutiny to ITC claims.

Common CRA Audit Triggers for ITC Claims

The scope of GST/HST non-compliance is not trivial. According to the Canada Revenue Agency's federal tax gap report, the net GST/HST gap averaged $3.9 billion per year over tax years 2014 to 2018, representing 8% to 10% of total GST/HST revenue. Roughly one in ten GST/HST dollars owed go uncollected due to non-compliance. That gap means the CRA has a strong institutional incentive to scrutinize ITC claims, and certain invoice and documentation issues reliably attract that scrutiny.

Missing or invalid GST/HST registration numbers. This is the single most frequent cause of ITC disallowance at audit. If the supplier's 9-digit business number is absent from the invoice, has expired, or does not match the CRA registry, the ITC claim fails. The CRA's verification process cross-references the registration number you report against its own records, and any discrepancy triggers a disallowance. You repay the credit, plus interest and potential penalties.

Invoices from unregistered suppliers. If the supplier is not registered for GST/HST, no ITC can be claimed regardless of how complete or professional the invoice appears. The tax charged by an unregistered supplier is not legitimate GST/HST in the CRA's view, and claiming it as an input tax credit exposes your business to full repayment plus penalties.

Tier-incomplete documentation. The CRA expects invoices to contain every field required for their amount tier. A $200 invoice missing the buyer's name, or one that fails to break out individual tax amounts, does not meet the documentation standard for that tier. Auditors check these requirements methodically, and a pattern of tier-incomplete invoices across your ITC claims signals a systemic documentation weakness.

Supplier name mismatches. When the name on the invoice does not match the CRA's registered legal name for that business number, auditors flag the discrepancy. As covered earlier in this guide, many suppliers invoice under trade names or abbreviations that differ from their registered identity. Each mismatch creates an audit point that requires explanation and supporting documentation to resolve, and unresolved mismatches result in disallowed credits.

Math errors in tax calculations. If the GST/HST amounts on an invoice do not reconcile with the stated rates applied to the taxable amounts, the CRA treats the invoice as unreliable documentation. Even small rounding errors across a large volume of invoices can compound into material discrepancies that draw auditor attention. The consequence is the same: disallowed ITCs, repayment, and potential penalties.

Large or unusual ITC claims. Disproportionately large ITC claims relative to reported revenue, or sudden spikes in ITC claim volume without a corresponding increase in business activity, attract CRA scrutiny. These patterns trigger risk-based selection for audit, and once selected, every invoice supporting those claims faces detailed examination against the requirements above.

Every trigger on this list is preventable through consistent invoice validation at the point of receipt.

Protecting Your ITC Claims: A Practical Checklist

Use this checklist as a daily validation reference before processing any supplier invoice for input tax credit claims.

Before claiming an ITC, confirm each item:

Determine the documentation tier. Check the invoice total (tax included) to identify which CRA requirement level applies: simplified ($30 or less), intermediate ($30.01 to $150), or full ($150.01 and above).
Verify the GST/HST registration number. Confirm the supplier has included their registration number on the invoice and validate it against the CRA GST/HST Registry to ensure the account is active.
Match the supplier name. Compare the supplier name printed on the invoice to the legal name registered in the CRA registry. Any mismatch, even a minor one such as an abbreviation or a missing "Inc.", can trigger a disallowance.
Confirm all tier-specific fields are present. Cross-reference the invoice against the required fields for its documentation tier. Full-tier invoices demand the most detail, including buyer name or trading name, payment terms, and an itemized description of each supply.
Check provincial tax separation. For invoices from BC, Saskatchewan, or Manitoba, verify that GST and PST appear as distinct line items. Combined totals without a clear GST breakout create problems when calculating your federal ITC.
Validate the math. Recalculate the GST/HST amount using the applicable rate (5% GST, 13% HST, or 15% HST depending on the province of supply) and confirm it matches the amount shown on the invoice.
Flag and return non-compliant invoices. If any required element is missing or incorrect, request a corrected invoice from the supplier before processing the ITC claim. Do not claim credits against deficient documentation.

Retention requirement: Keep all invoices and supporting ITC documentation for a minimum of six years from the end of the tax year in which the credit was claimed. The CRA can audit any period within this window, and the burden of proof falls on the claimant.

As CRA modernization progresses, electronic invoicing standards and requirements are becoming increasingly relevant for Canadian businesses. Staying current with these developments will help your organization meet Canada GST invoice requirements as compliance expectations evolve.

Consistent invoice validation at the point of receipt remains the most effective defense against ITC disallowances. Catching a missing registration number or a name mismatch before you file costs minutes. Discovering it during a CRA audit costs repaid credits, interest, and penalties, a difference that justifies building verification into every accounts payable workflow.