Nunavut charges only the 5% federal GST, with no territorial sales tax — but in a territory with no road or rail link to the rest of Canada, freight costs shape prices far more than tax does.
Adding GST: tax = price × 0.05, total = price × 1.05. Removing GST from a total: price = total ÷ 1.05, tax = total − price.
A $100 purchase: tax = $100 × 0.05 = $5.00. Total = $100 + $5.00 = $105.00. Working backwards from that $105.00 total: price = $105.00 ÷ 1.05 = $100.00, tax = $105.00 − $100.00 = $5.00.
With no territorial sales tax, the only tax this calculator works out is the 5% GST, and the usual federal exemptions apply on top: basic groceries, prescription drugs, most health and dental services, and long-term residential rent are GST-exempt everywhere in Canada. A $4 loaf of bread is tax-free; a $4 chocolate bar carries the full 5%. As below, high freight and air-transport costs are baked into shelf prices well before GST applies.
Nunavut has no territorial sales tax, so the 5% federal GST is the only tax added at checkout. But Nunavut is also the only Canadian jurisdiction with no permanent road or rail connection to the rest of the country: nearly everything sold in its communities arrives by air or by the short summer sealift. That freight cost is baked into shelf prices well before GST is ever calculated, which is why a lower tax rate here doesn't translate into lower prices the way it might elsewhere.
Like the Northwest Territories, Nunavut charges a 2% payroll tax on the earnings of anyone who works in the territory, a system it inherited when it split from the NWT in 1999. About 1,000 employers are currently registered to collect it. As with the NWT, this is withheld from wages rather than charged at the till, so it's separate from the GST this calculator works out.
| Federal GST | 5% |
| Territorial sales tax | — |
| Combined rate (at checkout) | 5% |
| Territorial payroll tax (on wages, not at checkout) | 2% |
With no territorial sales tax, GST/HST registration with the CRA is the only sales-tax step: mandatory once your total taxable revenue (including any associated businesses) passes $30,000 over four consecutive calendar quarters, or within a single quarter, and optional below that as a small supplier. Employers who hire staff working in Nunavut must separately register to collect the 2% territorial payroll tax.
Both sources checked 30 September 2026.
The 2% payroll tax is withheld from employment income, not charged on purchases — it isn't part of the GST calculation above.
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Rate last checked: September 2026. Sources: Government of Nunavut, Department of Finance, Payroll Tax.