The tax on books in Ontario is 5% for qualifying printed books, not the province’s usual 13% Harmonized Sales Tax. A point-of-sale rebate automatically cancels the 8% provincial portion of HST at the register, so you pay only the 5% federal share.1Canada Revenue Agency. Point-of-Sale Rebate on Books E-books, colouring books, agendas, and several other printed items that look like books don’t qualify and are taxed at the full 13%.
How the Book Rebate Works at the Register
Ontario’s 13% HST combines a 5% federal Goods and Services Tax with an 8% provincial tax.2Canada Revenue Agency. GST/HST Calculator and Rates When you buy a qualifying book, the retailer’s system credits back the 8% provincial share automatically and charges you only 5%.1Canada Revenue Agency. Point-of-Sale Rebate on Books There’s no form to fill out and nothing to ask for. Your receipt will show either a single 5% tax line, or a 13% charge with an 8% credit immediately below it.
Which Printed Books Qualify for the 5% Rate
A standard printed book qualifies, including updated editions and loose-leaf updates.1Canada Revenue Agency. Point-of-Sale Rebate on Books Children’s novels and picture books qualify on the same basis as any other printed book, provided they don’t fall into the excluded categories below.
Three other formats also get the reduced rate:
- Audiobooks, when 90% or more of the recording is a spoken reading of a printed book that would itself qualify.1Canada Revenue Agency. Point-of-Sale Rebate on Books
- Printed religious scriptures of any religion, bound or unbound, such as a bible or quran.3Government of Ontario. HST Ontario Point-of-Sale Rebates
- A printed book packaged with a CD-ROM or website access code as a single item, when it’s specifically designed for students in a qualifying educational course.3Government of Ontario. HST Ontario Point-of-Sale Rebates
What Doesn’t Qualify
The Excise Tax Act carves out a long list of items that look like books but attract the full 13%. These trip up shoppers most often around the holidays, when gift-buying mixes real books with activity kits and stationery.
- Colouring books, sticker books, and cut-out books, along with anything designed primarily to be drawn on, affixed to, or pressed out.4Department of Justice Canada. Excise Tax Act RSC 1985 c E-15 – Section 259.1
- Notebooks, agendas, calendars, and timetables, and any book designed primarily for writing in.4Department of Justice Canada. Excise Tax Act RSC 1985 c E-15 – Section 259.1
- Street or road map atlases and directories. Guidebooks and atlases containing other types of maps still qualify.4Department of Justice Canada. Excise Tax Act RSC 1985 c E-15 – Section 259.1
- Sales catalogues, warranty booklets, and owner’s manuals, regardless of how well they’re bound.4Department of Justice Canada. Excise Tax Act RSC 1985 c E-15 – Section 259.1
- Brochures, pamphlets, and programs for events or performances.4Department of Justice Canada. Excise Tax Act RSC 1985 c E-15 – Section 259.1
- Collections of blueprints, patterns, or stencils.4Department of Justice Canada. Excise Tax Act RSC 1985 c E-15 – Section 259.1
E-books and Digital Formats
Electronic and digital books are explicitly excluded, regardless of content.1Canada Revenue Agency. Point-of-Sale Rebate on Books A novel you buy as a paperback is taxed at 5%. The identical title downloaded to your e-reader is taxed at 13%. The same applies to digital audiobooks bought through streaming services or app stores, and to PDF textbooks.
The one narrow exception is the student course package described earlier: a physical book bundled with a CD-ROM or website access code as a single item for a qualifying course.3Government of Ontario. HST Ontario Point-of-Sale Rebates A standalone digital subscription or e-book download does not qualify.
Magazines and Newspapers
Magazines don’t get the book rebate off the rack. A subscription magazine can qualify, but only if 5% or less of its printed space is devoted to advertising.4Department of Justice Canada. Excise Tax Act RSC 1985 c E-15 – Section 259.1 Very few consumer magazines meet that threshold, so most magazine purchases are taxed at 13%.
Newspapers are excluded from the book rebate, but Ontario runs a separate point-of-sale rebate for qualifying print newspapers that carry news, editorials, or feature stories and are published at regular intervals. Flyers, inserts, and shoppers don’t qualify.3Government of Ontario. HST Ontario Point-of-Sale Rebates A qualifying newspaper ends up at the same effective 5%, just through a different rebate.
Buying Books Online or From Abroad
Online orders from Canadian retailers work the same way as in-store purchases. If you order a qualifying printed book from a Canadian bookstore’s website and ship it to an Ontario address, the site should apply the 8% credit automatically.
For books shipped from outside Canada by a non-resident seller who isn’t registered for GST/HST, the Canada Border Services Agency handles the rebate at the border. It deducts the 8% provincial portion and collects only 5% on importation, with no paperwork required from you.1Canada Revenue Agency. Point-of-Sale Rebate on Books
When the Retailer Charges You 13% by Mistake
If a store’s system fails to apply the credit on a qualifying book and your receipt shows the full 13%, you can claim the 8% portion back from the CRA directly. File Form GST189, the General Application for GST/HST Rebates, and use reason code 16 for provincial point-of-sale rebates.5Canada Revenue Agency. General Application for GST/HST Rebates
You have four years from the date the tax became payable to file.5Canada Revenue Agency. General Application for GST/HST Rebates For one book, the amount usually isn’t worth the effort. For a school, library, or business that buys in volume and finds the rebate was consistently missed, the four-year window can recover a meaningful sum. Keep receipts showing the 13% charge as proof.