Accountant for Dietitians & Nutritionists in Ontario

Dietetic services provided by a Registered Dietitian can be GST/HST-exempt when the conditions are met — the service must be rendered to an individual by a practitioner registered to practise dietetics in the province (the College of Dietitians of Ontario regulates Registered Dietitians). The exemption attaches to the regulated professional service. It does not automatically extend to product sales, supplements, packaged meal plans sold as products, courses, or corporate programs, which are generally taxable.

In Ontario, 'Registered Dietitian' is a protected title regulated by the College of Dietitians of Ontario, and dietetic services by an RD can qualify for the GST/HST health-care exemption. 'Nutritionist' is not a regulated title in Ontario, so services provided under that title generally do not qualify for the exemption and are taxable. If you hold RD registration, your clinical dietetic counselling can be exempt; if you practise as an unregulated nutritionist, your services are typically taxable. This distinction directly affects whether and how you charge HST.

Usually yes. Even for a Registered Dietitian, the exemption applies to the professional service rendered to an individual — not to products. Packaged meal plans sold as a standalone product, e-books, recorded courses, memberships, and group programs are generally taxable supplies. If your taxable revenue from these exceeds the $30,000 small-supplier threshold, you must register for HST and charge it on those items. We help you classify each offering and set up the right tax treatment.

Supplement sales are generally taxable at 13% HST, separate from any exempt dietetic counselling you provide. That creates a mixed-supply situation: you track product revenue and inventory (cost of goods sold) apart from your service revenue, and once your taxable sales cross the $30,000 threshold you register and charge HST on products. Once registered, you can claim input tax credits on expenses tied to the taxable product side, but not on expenses tied to exempt services. We set up inventory and COGS tracking so this is clean.

If you are a Registered Dietitian and all your revenue is exempt dietetic counselling, you generally do not register. If you sell taxable products, programs, or practise as an unregulated nutritionist, and taxable supplies exceed the $30,000 small-supplier threshold under CRA timing rules, you must register and charge HST on the taxable portion. Many nutrition practices cross the threshold through product and program sales without realizing it — we monitor your taxable revenue so you register at the right time.

Deductible expenses include office or kitchen-studio rent, CDO registration fees (for RDs), professional liability insurance, continuing education, practice and scheduling software (Practice Better, Healthie), payment-processing fees, supplement inventory costs (as COGS), content and course production costs, marketing, bookkeeping and accounting fees, and a home office. Where you have taxable revenue, input tax credits may be available on related expenses; expenses tied to exempt services are not eligible for ITCs but remain deductible for income tax.