Manitoba’s sales tax, officially called the Retail Sales Tax (RST), is a provincial tax of 7% applied to most goods and many services purchased in the province. It sits on top of Canada’s 5% federal Goods and Services Tax (GST), bringing the combined sales tax rate on most purchases in Manitoba to 12%. Unlike provinces that use a Harmonized Sales Tax (HST), Manitoba keeps its provincial tax separate, which means businesses deal with two distinct tax calculations.
How the 7% RST Is Calculated
Manitoba’s RST is calculated on the selling price of an item before the federal GST is applied. So if you buy something priced at $100, you pay $7 in provincial RST and $5 in federal GST, for a total of $112. The two taxes don’t stack on top of each other; each is calculated independently on the base price.
What’s Exempt From Manitoba RST
A wide range of everyday goods and services are not subject to the 7% tax. Groceries that qualify as “basic groceries” under the federal GST rules are exempt, meaning staples like bread, milk, meat, fruits, and vegetables carry no provincial sales tax. Books (printed, bound, and published for educational, cultural, or literary purposes) are also exempt, as are children’s clothing and footwear priced at $150 or less in specified children’s size ranges.
Baby supplies get broad exemptions: diapers, strollers, cribs, baby gates, monitors, and items used for nursing, feeding, or bathing are all RST-free. Child car seats and booster seats are exempt, along with bicycle helmets that meet Highway Traffic Act standards. Sanitary products, including tampons, pads, and menstrual cups, carry no RST.
Medical items are largely exempt as well. That includes hearing aids, dentures, artificial limbs, orthopedic appliances, equipment designed for people with disabilities, prescription dental and optical appliances, smoking cessation products, and diabetic supplies like test strips, insulin pumps, and blood glucose monitors.
On the used-goods side, used clothing or footwear valued at $100 or less is exempt, and so is used furniture valued at $100 or less when purchased for home use. Natural water is exempt unless it’s sold in a single serving under 600 ml or sold alongside a meal.
Exempt Services
Many common services fall outside the RST as well. Construction labour, home inspections, janitorial services, and painting are all exempt as services to real property. Personal services like haircuts, spa treatments, skin and nail care, and medical services are exempt, though tanning services that use ultraviolet radiation are taxable. Day care, education, veterinary services, shoe repair, coin-operated laundry or dry cleaning, and coin-operated self-serve car washes are all RST-free. Required motor vehicle safety inspections are also exempt.
Small Business Registration Threshold
If you run a small business in Manitoba, you are not required to register for or collect RST until your annual taxable sales exceed $30,000. Once you cross that threshold, you have one month to register and set up a system for collecting and remitting the tax. For example, if your fiscal year ends in December and you hit $30,000 in October, you would need to start collecting RST by December 1.
Businesses below the threshold can still voluntarily register if they choose to. But for very small operations, the exemption removes a significant administrative burden.
Out-of-Province and Online Purchases
Manitoba’s RST applies to goods and services you consume in the province, regardless of where the seller is located. If you buy from an out-of-province vendor that is registered to collect Manitoba RST, that vendor is required to charge you the 7% at the time of sale, just like a local business would. Vendors who fail to collect the tax when required can be held liable for the uncollected amount, plus interest and penalties.
If you purchase taxable goods from an unregistered out-of-province seller and no RST is collected at the point of sale, you are still responsible for paying the tax directly to Manitoba’s Taxation Division. This applies to online purchases as well. The obligation follows the buyer, not just the seller.
How Manitoba RST Differs From HST Provinces
Five Canadian provinces use a Harmonized Sales Tax that rolls the provincial and federal portions into a single rate. Manitoba is not one of them. Instead, Manitoba businesses must track and remit the provincial RST separately from the federal GST. This means filing separate returns for each tax and following different rules for what qualifies as taxable or exempt under each system. For consumers, the practical difference is seeing two separate tax lines on receipts rather than one combined charge.