Alberta Invoice Software — 5% GST Only, No PST

Alberta Businesses Invoicing Non-Alberta Clients

If you're an Alberta business and you ship work or digital services to clients in other provinces, the Canada Revenue Agency's place-of-supply rules determine which tax you charge — and it's not your 5% Alberta GST. You charge the client's province rate. This trips up a lot of Alberta businesses because Alberta has the simplest tax in Canada, but the moment you cross a provincial border, you inherit the other province's complexity.

Four common cross-province scenarios

• Calgary consultant invoicing a Toronto client: Charge 13% Ontario HST, not 5% Alberta GST. iBill.ca auto-applies HST because the client's province is ON.
• Edmonton agency invoicing a Vancouver client: Charge 5% GST + 7% BC PST. Even though your home province has no PST, the client's BC address means BC PST applies.
• Red Deer contractor invoicing a Halifax client: Charge 14% Nova Scotia HST (reduced from 15% on April 1, 2025). Again, client province controls.
• Alberta business invoicing a US or international client: Tax defaults to zero (zero-rated export). iBill.ca detects the international province and removes GST automatically.

This is not something you can figure out with a tax calculator alone — the calculator gives you the rate, but the invoice software enforces the place-of-supply logic across every line item, every client, and every return. iBill.ca's address-based tax engine means you never have to remember which rate to apply — just pick the client and the correct tax appears.

Your GST registration number must appear on every invoice over $30

CRA's Excise Tax Act Section 3 requires your 9-digit Business Number followed by the RT0001 program identifier (e.g., 123456789RT0001) on any invoice to a GST/HST registrant for a supply over $30. iBill.ca prints this automatically once you add it to your organization profile — you never have to remember it per-invoice.

Alberta has no PST — don't add provincial sales tax

Alberta is the only Canadian province without a provincial sales tax. There is no Alberta RST, no AB PST, and no harmonized tax. Your invoices should show only 5% GST. A common mistake among new Alberta businesses is carrying over a provincial-sales-tax line from templates built for other provinces — iBill.ca prevents this by hard-coding Alberta to GST-only when the client province is AB.

GST filing frequency depends on your revenue

CRA assigns filing frequency based on your annual taxable supplies: annual ($1.5M or less), quarterly ($1.5M–$6M), or monthly (over $6M). Most Alberta small businesses start on annual filing. iBill.ca generates GST return reports for any period you choose — run them quarterly or annually depending on your assigned schedule. See CRA tax reporting for the full workflow.

Input Tax Credits on home office, vehicle, and meal expenses

Alberta GST registrants can claim ITCs on GST paid for business expenses — including the business-use portion of home office costs, vehicle expenses, and meals (50%). iBill.ca's expense tracking automatically captures GST paid on each expense and flows it into your ITC total on the return. No manual reconciliation at quarter-end.

Oil & gas, construction, and agriculture — sector-specific GST details

Alberta's economy leans heavily on oil & gas, construction, and agriculture. Each has GST wrinkles — zero-rated exports for oil & gas, progress billings for construction, and zero-rated basic groceries vs taxable prepared foods for agriculture. iBill.ca supports tax-exempt line items, progress invoicing, and cross-province place-of-supply so Alberta sector businesses can handle the edge cases without a custom workflow.