Alberta detailers get the easiest sales tax situation in the country: 5% GST, no provincial sales tax. No PST to track, no HST, none of the compounding rules a detailer in Quebec or BC deals with.
That doesn't make it zero work. Here's what actually matters.
This is general information to help you ask your accountant better questions — not tax advice. Confirm anything specific to your situation with the CRA or a professional.
The $30,000 threshold
You must register for GST once your business passes $30,000 in revenue over four consecutive calendar quarters. That's the rule that catches people out, so it's worth being precise about two things.
It's rolling, not calendar. It isn't "did I make $30k this year." It's any four consecutive quarters. A detailer whose season runs hard from May to October can cross the threshold mid-summer based partly on the previous year's revenue.
It's revenue, not profit. Gross sales. What you spent on chemicals, insurance, and your van doesn't reduce the number for this test.
Cross it and you have a short window to register and start charging. Miss it and you can end up owing GST on sales where you never collected any — you'd be paying it out of your own margin.
At Alberta detailing prices, $30,000 is roughly 120 full details a year, or a bit over two a week. Most full-time detailers pass it in their first year.
Why a lot of detailers register before they have to
Voluntary registration is allowed at any revenue level, and for detailing specifically it often pays for itself.
Input tax credits. Once registered, you claim back the GST you pay on business purchases. For a detailer starting up, that's a meaningful list: extractor, polisher, pressure washer, generator, chemicals, pads, towels, the wrap on your van, your phone bill, insurance where GST applies. If you're spending $12,000 getting set up, roughly $570 of that is GST you can recover — but only if you were registered when you bought it.
Commercial customers expect it. Dealerships, property managers, and any business with a bookkeeper will ask for a GST number on the invoice. Not having one signals "very small operation," and in fleet work that costs you jobs.
It doesn't really cost your retail customers anything. On a $250 detail, GST is $12.50. Nobody has ever chosen a different detailer over $12.50.
The trade-off is real but modest: you're now filing returns and keeping records properly. If you're going to be a business for more than a season, you're doing that anyway.
What has to be on the invoice
Once registered, your invoices need specific information for your customer to claim their own input tax credits. For invoices of $30 or more, that means:
- Your business name
- Your GST/HST registration number (the
123456789 RT0001format) - The date
- The total amount
- Either the GST amount shown separately, or a clear statement that the total includes GST
For invoices of $150 or more, add the customer's name and a description of the work.
In practice, show GST as its own line. It's what commercial customers expect, it makes your own bookkeeping easier at year end, and it removes any ambiguity about whether your price included tax.
A compliant Alberta detailing invoice looks like:
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Full interior detail | $220.00 |
| Pet hair removal | $60.00 |
| Subtotal | $280.00 |
| GST (5%) | $14.00 |
| Total | $294.00 |
What if you drive to another province?
Sales tax follows where the service is performed, not where your business is registered. Alberta detailers working near a border need to know this.
- Job in Alberta → 5% GST
- Job in BC → 5% GST + 7% PST (PST rules on services vary — check whether yours is taxable)
- Job in Saskatchewan → 5% GST + 6% PST
- Job in an HST province (Ontario, the Maritimes) → HST at that province's rate
If you're occasionally crossing into BC or Saskatchewan, don't guess — the rules on which services attract PST are not the same as the rules for goods. This is a good question for an accountant, and a cheap one to get right early.
Filing: how often, and the Quick Method
New small registrants are typically assigned annual filing, which is the least work. You can elect to file quarterly, and some prefer it — smaller, more frequent amounts are easier to budget for than one large bill.
Worth asking your accountant about: the Quick Method of accounting. Rather than tracking GST on every purchase, you remit a reduced flat percentage of your GST-included sales and keep the difference. For service businesses with low material costs relative to revenue — which describes most detailers — it can work out favourably and is dramatically less bookkeeping. It's an election with eligibility conditions, so get advice rather than just switching.
The mistakes that cause problems
Treating GST as income. The most damaging habit. That 5% was never yours — you're collecting it on the CRA's behalf. Detailers who spend it end up funding the remittance out of a slow February. Move it to a separate account the day it lands, or at minimum track the running balance.
Registering late and eating the tax. If you crossed the threshold in August and register in December, you can be liable for GST on sales in between. You didn't charge it, so it comes out of your pocket.
No receipts for cash purchases. No receipt, no input tax credit. The chemicals you bought with cash and lost the receipt for are a real loss.
Invoices without the GST number. Your commercial customers can't claim their credit, which means at some point they'll ask you to reissue every invoice from the year.
Assuming e-transfers are invisible. They aren't. Revenue is revenue regardless of how it's paid.
Making this mostly automatic
The bookkeeping burden here is almost entirely about consistency: every invoice numbered, GST calculated correctly, your registration number present, and a record you can hand your accountant in April.
PayDash applies 5% GST automatically on Alberta invoices, puts your GST number on every one, and applies the right rules if you take a job in another province. At year end your accountant gets a clean, complete record instead of a folder of screenshots.
See how PayDash works for detailers →
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