# independent contractor working for US company: charging GST?



## llagebs (Feb 24, 2014)

I'll be working as an independent contractor for a US company for the next several months. I'm still living and working in Canada. It's my first time being self-employed.

I came across articles such as this: http://www.withsquirrelly.com/when-...for-the-gst-hst-as-an-independent-contractor/ that talk about charging GST/HST once your revenue passes $30,000. I do expect to pass this threshold over the course of working for them.

- does this still apply to me, given I'm working for a US company?
- since the billing rate is clearly stated in the contract, does the GST/HST end up coming out of my pocket? Or is it still acceptable to bill them beyond the contracted rate due to taxes? (i.e. if agreed rate is $50/hr is it ok to bill them $55 due to GST/HST?)
- speaking of billing them, is it enough to just send them an email, or does it need to be sent by snail mail for some reason?

Hopefully someone's been through this situation before and can advise


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## Homerhomer (Oct 18, 2010)

You will need to register for gst as long as you have taxable services, ei if you were to make sales to someone in Canada you would charge them gst. For your US client you will not charge them gst and the good news is you will be able to claim your gst paid on purchases as a refund on your gst return.

Email invoice is just fine.

If your sales do not exceed $30K in any given year than you don't have to register for gst but you should since you can claim gst paid on expenses.


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## llagebs (Feb 24, 2014)

Ok, thanks. Looks like I will register for GST, although I won't be charging my client since they're not canadian. Seems like busywork, but oh well.


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## off.by.10 (Mar 16, 2014)

llagebs said:


> Seems like busywork, but oh well.


It's really not that bad. You have to fill a one page form every year (around tax time) with basically the amount of tax you collected (0 for you) and how much you paid as part of your expenses. Mail that back and get a check a few weeks later.

Keeping track of your expenses along with all the documentation for them is the annoying part.


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## kcowan (Jul 1, 2010)

Make sure to request annual filing in June. You can file electronically. The GST you pay on equipment is all deductible and that can be significant. Once you have done the accounting as a part of your income tax filing, the GST filing takes 5 minutes. I worked this way for 7 years. It took me a couple of years to get away from quarterly filing, which was a royal pita.


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