Do Dietitians and Nutritionists Charge HST in Ontario?

Short Answer

Whether you charge HST depends on two things: your professional registration and what exactly you are selling. A Registered Dietitian’s clinical counselling can be exempt; an unregulated nutritionist’s services, and almost anything sold as a product or program, are taxable. Most nutrition practices end up with a mix.

Registered Dietitian vs. Nutritionist

In Ontario, “Registered Dietitian” (RD) is a protected title regulated by the College of Dietitians of Ontario. Dietetic services rendered to an individual by an RD can qualify for the GST/HST health-care exemption under Schedule V, Part II of the Excise Tax Act. “Nutritionist,” by contrast, is not a regulated title in Ontario — services provided under that title generally do not qualify for the exemption and are taxable. If you hold RD registration, your clinical counselling can be exempt; if you practise as a nutritionist, your services are typically taxable.

Services vs. Products

Even for an RD, the exemption attaches to the professional service rendered to an individual — not to anything you package and sell:

• Generally exempt: one-on-one clinical dietetic assessment and counselling by an RD.
• Generally taxable: supplements and retail products, standalone meal plans sold as a product, e-books, recorded courses, group programs and memberships, and corporate or workplace nutrition contracts.

This is the split that defines nutrition-practice accounting, and it is easy to drift across the line as you add digital products and programs.

When You Must Register

If you are an RD with only exempt counselling revenue, you generally do not register for HST. Once your taxable revenue — products, programs, courses, or unregulated nutritionist services — exceeds $30,000 over four consecutive calendar quarters, you must register and charge HST on that portion. Many practices cross the threshold through product and program sales without noticing. Once registered, you can claim input tax credits on expenses tied to the taxable side.

Getting the Split Right

Set up separate revenue accounts for exempt services and taxable products/programs, track supplement inventory and cost of goods sold, and monitor taxable revenue against the threshold. Your scheduling and commerce tools (Practice Better, Healthie, plus Stripe or Square) need to apply tax correctly to the taxable items while leaving exempt counselling untaxed.

Wellspring Accounting sets up this mixed-supply tracking for dietitians and nutritionists across Ontario.