Bringing taxes into harmony

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In a nutshell

The Commodity Tax, Customs, and Trade Section of the Canadian Bar Association is making recommendations to simplify Canada’s sales and commodity tax system. These arise from the CBA-Finance roundtable discussion held on June 22, 2026, and the CBA-CRA roundtable discussion held on June 23, 2026.

Key recommendations

Building on the discussions at the Finance roundtable and the CRA roundtable, and on the CBA section’s prior submissions, the CBA recommends the following simplification measures for sales and commodity tax:

1. Have British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba harmonize their provincial sales taxes with the GST/HST. This would deliver the single most impactful and relevant simplification of Canada’s sales and commodity tax system and significantly reduce internal trade barriers for companies operating in Canada.
2. Harmonize the provincial fuel tax regimes to reduce a material interprovincial trade barrier and simplify doing business in Canada.
3. Further harmonize GST/HST with the Quebec Sales Tax (QST). This change will simplify how much tax a business must collect and reduce the consequences of making the wrong technical choice.
4. Increase existing GST/HST thresholds.
5. Allow the Tax Court to partially dispose of a particular issue for GST/HST purposes.
6. Introduce a definition of “property” for section 186 (holding company rule) that excludes near-cash assets.
7. Introduce e-invoicing for GST/HST.
8. Make more supplies taxable — either zero-rated or full-rate taxable — by eliminating exempt supplies.

Why this matters

By simplifying Canada's sales and commodity tax system, we can reduce duplication, lower unnecessary costs for businesses, and make life more affordable for Canadians.

Read the full submission.