Owner resources · 5 min read
HST on short-term rentals in Nova Scotia.
When HST applies to a short-term rental in Nova Scotia, at what rate, on what, the small-supplier threshold, and what changes when a stay runs a month or more.
HST is the tax most new hosts meet last and understand least, because a platform can hide it inside the guest’s total. The rules are short. This page sets them out from the province’s own record in the data behind Casa Scotia’s guides, with the source beside each one.
The rate, and what it applies to
The rate is 14%, in force since 1 April 2025. In the record’s own words: HST applies to short-term stays of less than a month, on the nightly rate, the cleaning fee and the platform's service fees. A municipal marketing levy is part of the price HST is charged on as well.
Stays of a month or more
The tax applies to short stays. A stay of a calendar month or longer is exempt, which is the line between a short-term rental and a residential tenancy for this purpose. A home let by the month to a relocating family or a crew on a contract is on the other side of it.
The small-supplier threshold
A host is not required to register for HST until revenue passes $30,000 in four consecutive calendar quarters. Under the threshold you charge no HST on your own bookings; over it you register with the Canada Revenue Agency, charge the tax and file returns on the schedule you are given. Registering before the threshold is allowed, and the trade is the paperwork against the input tax credits on what the home buys; that is a question for your accountant, not this page.
Who collects on a platform booking
Whether a platform charges the tax to the guest and remits it depends on your own registration status and on the platform’s rules for Nova Scotia, which each platform publishes on its tax pages. Read them against your registration rather than assuming; a payout statement shows what was collected.
HST and the marketing levy
Where the municipality’s levy rule says so, which the export records for 21 of the 49 marketing levies, the levy is part of the price the tax is charged on; for the rest it is not confirmed. The Canada Revenue Agency’s definition covers a tax, duty, or fee imposed under an Act of the legislature of a province in respect of the supply, consumption or use of property or a service, which is what a provincial-authority levy is. The registration and levy page lists every municipality’s levy.
Questions owners ask
Is HST charged on the cleaning fee?
Yes. The tax applies to the nightly rate, the cleaning fee and the platform’s service fees on a short stay.
Does HST apply to a stay of a month or more?
No. A stay of a calendar month or longer is exempt.
Do I charge HST if I am under the threshold?
Not unless you have registered. Under the small-supplier threshold you are not required to register; once revenue passes it in the period the rule sets, you must.
Is the marketing levy subject to HST?
Yes where the municipality’s levy rule says so, which is most of the levies in force; for the rest it is not confirmed. The registration and levy page says which.
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