Catch-up
Can you get a CRA payment plan for a large HST balance?
2026-10-01 · 6 min read · Tax Everyday, Vaughan
You can ask for a payment arrangement on a GST/HST balance. CRA is more willing when the returns are filed, the figure is final, and you are filing new periods on time. An arrangement does not forgive the tax. Interest continues to compound daily at the prescribed rate, which changes every quarter. Missing a payment, or missing the next HST return, is a common way to default. Because the balance is trust money — tax you collected — collections activity, including a requirement to pay sent to your customers or your bank, is more likely than it is for a small income-tax balance. No one can promise you will not be garnished.
If a voluntary disclosure is still possible, do not start the collections conversation until that choice is made. Once CRA is in contact about the HST, the disclosure is generally no longer voluntary. If they are already in contact, stop hoping for a disclosure and get the returns and the plan in place.
Build a number you can say out loud
Collections will ask what you can pay this month. Pick a figure the cash flow supports in a bad month, not your best month.
- File every outstanding period first, so the balance is not an estimate.
- Separate the HST debt from personal tax and from payroll. Pay the trust amounts with intent.
- Keep current HST remittances out of the old debt. Falling behind on the new period ends the conversation.
- A lump sum, even a modest one, reduces interest. It does not replace the returns.
- If the company cannot pay and the director may be assessed, get advice before you drain the company into a related account.
We prepare the returns. You own the promise to pay
Tax Everyday will get the GST34s filed and the balance onto a notice you can take to collections. We will not invent a monthly payment. A ready corporate year with HST support is $2,000 plus HST. A large, multi-year HST balance is quoted. Once the notices exist, book a short follow-up if you want the numbers read before you call CRA.
Drop the notices you already have. A balance you are afraid of is easier to plan from a piece of paper than from a memory.
Short answers
Will CRA take a payment plan for HST I already spent?+
They often will, if the returns are filed and the payment is realistic. Spending the money does not reduce the debt. It only explains why you need a plan instead of a bank draft.
Should I borrow to pay the HST in full?+
If the interest on the loan is lower and the loan is manageable, sometimes yes. If the loan would sink the business and you can hold a CRA arrangement while you keep filing, the arrangement may be the practical path. Run both numbers. Do not drain payroll remittances to pay an old HST quarter.
Want this applied to your file?
These notes are general. A return is prepared only after we see your slips.