Airbnb and Short-Term Rental Taxes in Canada 2026: GST/HST, the $30,000 Threshold and Non-Compliant Rentals

Paolo Vezzola

Founder · Vezpa PMS · Profile →

You listed a room, a cottage or a whole apartment on Airbnb, VRBO or Booking.com, guests started booking, and now you are wondering what the CRA actually wants from that income. The honest answer: it depends on your total revenue, your province, whether the platform already collects tax on your behalf, and whether your listing meets the registration or licensing rules your municipality requires. This guide walks through the federal GST/HST rules that apply to every Canadian host in 2026 — the 5% GST and HST by province, the $30,000 small-supplier threshold, when platforms collect for you, and the 2024 rule that can wipe out your deductions if your rental is not compliant — with every figure checked against canada.ca at the time of publication.

GST/HST on short-term accommodation: the basics

A short-term rental — a room, cottage, chalet or apartment rented for less than a month — is a taxable supply under the Excise Tax Act. Every host must charge the 5% federal Goods and Services Tax (GST) on that supply, across every province and territory. In five provinces, the federal and provincial sales taxes are combined into a single Harmonized Sales Tax (HST):

This table covers GST/HST and provincial sales tax only. On top of it, many provinces and municipalities layer their own tourism levy or municipal accommodation tax (BC’s MRDT, Ontario’s MAT, Quebec’s lodging tax, Alberta’s Tourism Levy, and others) — those vary by municipality and are collected separately from GST/HST, so we cover them in full in our dedicated provincial tourism levy and lodging tax guide.

The $30,000 small-supplier threshold

Not every host has to register for GST/HST. You are a “small supplier” — and generally not required to register — if your total revenue from taxable supplies (short-term accommodation included) stays at or under $30,000 CAD over the last four consecutive calendar quarters, a rolling 12-month window rather than your fiscal year.

• If your running four-quarter total climbs above $30,000 without any single quarter alone exceeding it, you stop being a small supplier at the end of the month following the quarter in which you crossed the line, and you generally have to register from that point on.
• If a single booking pushes your revenue over $30,000 within one calendar quarter, you cease to be a small supplier immediately on that booking — you must charge GST/HST on the supply that put you over the threshold, and you generally have 29 days to register.
• Voluntary registration below the threshold is often worth considering: it lets you claim input tax credits on the GST/HST you pay for cleaning supplies, furniture, renovations and other rental-related expenses, at the cost of having to charge and remit GST/HST on your bookings.

When Airbnb, VRBO or Booking.com collect GST/HST for you

Since 1 July 2021, Canada’s digital-economy GST/HST rules require an accommodation platform operator — Airbnb, VRBO, Booking.com and similar marketplaces — to itself charge, collect and remit GST/HST on short-term accommodation booked through the platform, whenever the underlying host is not registered for GST/HST under the normal regime. Platform operators can register under a simplified regime specifically built for this purpose.

• If you are not registered for GST/HST yourself, the platform is generally responsible for charging and remitting GST/HST on your bookings made through it.
• If you are registered for GST/HST — because you exceeded the $30,000 threshold or registered voluntarily — you remain responsible for charging, collecting and remitting GST/HST yourself, including on any bookings the platform does not cover.
• Coverage can differ between platforms and does not extend to your direct bookings taken outside any platform — those remain entirely your responsibility regardless of your registration status.
• The CRA allowed a 12-month transition period from 1 July 2021 for platforms and hosts working in good faith toward compliance; that transition period is long over, and normal enforcement now applies.

The 2024 rule: losing deductions for non-compliant short-term rentals

Since 1 January 2024, a separate and unrelated rule targets the income tax side rather than GST/HST: subsection 67.7(2) of the Income Tax Act denies deductions for expenses tied to a “non-compliant” short-term rental. For this specific rule, a short-term rental generally means residential property rented, or offered for rent, for a period of less than 90 consecutive days.

• A rental is non-compliant if it is located in a province or municipality that does not permit short-term rentals to operate at that location, or if it does not meet all applicable provincial or municipal registration, licensing and permit requirements.
• Denied expenses can include mortgage interest, property tax, insurance, utilities, repairs and maintenance — calculated proportionally, based on the share of non-compliant days out of the days the property was operated as a short-term rental during the year.
• A one-time transitional rule applied only to the 2024 tax year: if the property became compliant with all applicable registration, licensing and permit requirements by 31 December 2024, it was deemed compliant for the entire 2024 year. That transitional relief does not carry forward — for 2025, 2026 and beyond, non-compliance for any part of the year proportionally denies the related deductions for that portion.

Record-keeping and staying compliant

Whichever side of the threshold you fall on, three habits keep you out of trouble:

• Keep proof of registration. Save your provincial or municipal short-term rental registration, licence or permit, and any renewal correspondence, for as long as you operate the property.
• Keep your GST/HST filings and platform statements. The CRA can audit past filings up to six years back, and increasingly cross-references platform listing data with its own registration records.
• Come forward if you have been under-collecting. The CRA’s Voluntary Disclosures Program can reduce or waive penalties if you correct past filings before an audit begins — the longer you wait, the more interest and penalties accumulate.

Frequently asked questions

Do I owe GST/HST on direct bookings too, not just bookings from Airbnb?

Yes. GST/HST applies to every short-term stay regardless of how the guest booked. If a guest books through your own website, calls you directly or walks in, you still owe the applicable GST/HST if you are registered — the only thing that changes is whether a platform collects it for you (bookings made through it) or you have to collect it yourself (everything else).

Does the $30,000 threshold apply per property or across everything I rent out?

It applies to you as a supplier across all your taxable revenue, not per individual listing. If you rent out two cottages and their combined revenue from taxable supplies exceeds $30,000 over four consecutive calendar quarters, you generally must register — even if neither property alone would cross the line.

If Airbnb already collects GST/HST for me, do I still need to register myself?

Not automatically, but you might need to for other reasons. Platform collection under the digital-economy rules covers bookings made through an unregistered host on that specific platform. If your total revenue across all sources exceeds $30,000, or if you also take direct bookings the platform does not touch, you likely still need your own GST/HST registration to remain compliant and to claim input tax credits.

What happens if I have not been collecting the correct GST/HST for years?

Contact the CRA as soon as possible. The Voluntary Disclosures Program may reduce or waive penalties if you come forward before an audit starts. The longer non-compliance continues, the more back tax, interest and penalties accumulate, and provincial tax authorities generally offer similar programs.

Is the 90-day rule for the 2024 deduction denial the same as the GST/HST short-term accommodation rule?

No, they are two different thresholds for two different taxes. GST/HST generally applies to accommodation for stays of less than 30 consecutive days. The 2024 income tax deduction-denial rule, in subsection 67.7(2), generally applies to a rental of less than 90 consecutive days. A stay can fall under one rule and not the other, so do not assume the two definitions match.