Sales tax on a freight invoice looks simple until a customer sends it back. Most of the mistakes we see are not about tax law. They are about setup: an old template, a field left blank, a calculation done by hand at the end of a long day.
This post lists the common ones. It is general information, not tax advice. Your accountant, Revenu Québec and the Canada Revenue Agency have the final word, and the rules for freight can be specific.
The rates, for reference
As of October 2026:
- GST (federal) is 5%.
- QST (Quebec) is 9.975%.
- HST in Ontario is 13%, and replaces GST there.
Rates change rarely, but they do change. Keep them in one place in your system, not typed into each invoice template.
Mistake 1: missing or wrong registration numbers
Your GST and QST registration numbers belong on your invoices. Business customers use them to claim back the tax they paid you. When the numbers are missing or wrong, the invoice comes back, and the payment waits.
The fix is boring. Enter the numbers once, in the system that prints your invoices, and check one printed invoice against your registration documents.
Mistake 2: assuming every move gets the same tax
A Quebec carrier is not always charging GST and QST. Which tax applies to a freight service depends on things like where the shipment goes and whether the move is part of an international shipment. Some legs of import and export moves can be treated differently from a local delivery.
We are not going to summarize those rules here, because the details matter. Do this instead: sit down with your accountant once, list your usual kinds of moves and customers, and write down which tax applies to each. Then set those defaults in your system, so dispatchers do not decide it invoice by invoice.
Mistake 3: leaving extra charges out of the taxable amount
A fuel surcharge is part of the price of the move. So, usually, are waiting time, chassis charges and other extras you bill for the service. Leaving them outside the taxable amount is a common slip, especially when they are added at the end as a separate line.
Pass-through charges are less obvious. If you bill a customer back for a terminal or line charge you paid, ask your accountant how to treat it. The answer depends on how the charge is billed and to whom.
Mistake 4: QST calculated on top of GST
Before 2013, QST in Quebec was calculated on the price including GST. Since January 1, 2013, it is calculated on the price before GST. Old spreadsheets and invoice templates still carry the old formula. The difference is small per invoice, and annoying to correct across a year of them.
If your invoices come from a template someone built years ago, check this first.
Mistake 5: discounts applied after tax
A discount reduces the price of the service, so it comes off before the tax is calculated. Applying tax to the full price and then subtracting a discount overcharges the customer, and gives your accountant extra work.
Mistake 6: credit notes that forget the tax
When you credit part of an invoice, the tax on that part has to be credited too. A credit note for the subtotal alone leaves the customer’s books and yours out of step.
Set it up once
Every mistake above has the same cure: decide once, set it in the system, and stop doing it by hand.
- Rates in one place.
- Registration numbers on every invoice, from the system.
- Taxable extras taxed automatically.
- Tax defaults per kind of customer, agreed with your accountant.
- Discounts and credits that recalculate tax on their own.
How our software does it
In UTX Freight, GST and QST rates live on one tax settings page and are applied to invoice subtotals. You tick the finished orders to bill, and the invoice comes out with the tax already applied. Invoices export in QuickBooks import format for your accountant.
In UTX Garage, GST and QST are calculated per taxable line, discounts apply before tax, and your registration numbers print on every invoice.
Both products are set up for GST and QST. If you bill Ontario customers with HST, tell us before setup.
Neither product replaces your accountant. They make sure that what you agreed with your accountant is what goes out on every invoice. If you want to see how that would look with your customers, talk to us.