RMT tax services: no, massage therapy did not become HST-exempt in 2024

What actually changed in June 2024 — and what did not

Bill C-59 received royal assent on June 20, 2024 and added psychotherapy and counselling therapy to the list of exempt health care services. Massage therapy was not in the bill. RMTs have a strong case — the profession is now regulated in five provinces, which meets the federal policy test for exemption, and the campaign has produced petitions and a private member's bill amendment — but as of today no law has changed, and RMT services remain taxable. That makes rumour the most expensive thing in this niche: a registered RMT who stops charging HST because a colleague heard about the exemption still owes the tax to CRA, out of their own margin, with interest. Until Parliament actually amends the Excise Tax Act, invoices keep their 13% in Ontario. If the law changes, deregistration will bring real decisions — repaying the tax embedded in equipment you still hold, a one-year minimum for voluntary registrants, and a keep-or-pass-on pricing call — and we will run that math the week it becomes real.

The registration decision at $30,000

Because massage is taxable, the small-supplier threshold does real work here: stay under $30,000 of taxable billings over four consecutive calendar quarters and you may practise unregistered, charging no tax. Cross it and registration is mandatory from the supply that put you over. The middle ground is voluntary registration below the threshold — worth considering when you are building out a treatment room and want the 13% back on the spend. Filing frequency is a choice at registration, and annual filing suits most solo RMTs: one return, due June 15 with the T1, though any balance is payable by April 30.

For a typical RMT — high labour, low supplies — the quick method often beats tracking receipts: you still charge 13% but remit 8.8% of tax-included sales, take a 1% credit on the first $30,000 each year, and may still claim ITCs on capital purchases like a table or laptop. We compare both methods against your actual cost mix before electing anything.

The ITCs taxable status buys you

Being taxable has one genuine consolation your exempt physio and chiro colleagues lack: a registered RMT using the regular method recovers HST on practice costs. That includes room rent charged by a clinic, linens and laundry, oils and lotions, booking and billing software, association fees that carry HST, and the table itself. Clinic percentage splits deserve a close read here — whether the clinic is buying your services, or you are renting a room and keeping your own patients, changes who charges whom and who claims what, and the contract should say what actually happens. Insurer direct billing changes none of this: extended-health plans reimburse massage with the tax on it, and the HST is yours to remit either way.

The T2125 that sits underneath

Income tax does not care about the exemption debate: an RMT reports practice income on a T2125, whether solo in a home studio or splitting fees inside a multidisciplinary clinic. The deductions that carry the return are CMTO registration, RMTAO or other association dues, liability insurance, continuing education, room rent or the business share of home studio costs, laundry, supplies, and travel between clinics for mobile work. Nothing is withheld on any of it, so plan for CPP at both the employee and employer rate plus tax on top — and once a year's net tax passes $3,000, CRA expects quarterly instalments the next. RMTs who take US continuing education, work conference circuits, or spend winters treating south of the border pick up a second country's questions; those live on our cross-border tax page for massage therapists, alongside the full picture of our tax services.

Source: CRA — Application of the GST/HST to psychotherapy and counselling therapy services.