CRA Compliance

No receipt.
No ITC.
Nabbit fixes that.

The CRA requires a receipt for every Input Tax Credit you claim. Nabbit captures, organizes, and syncs every receipt the moment you spend — so you never lose a dollar to a missing piece of paper.

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What Is the CRA Rule on Receipts?

Under the Excise Tax Act, you must hold sufficient documentary evidence — typically an original receipt — to claim an Input Tax Credit on a GST/HST purchase. If you're audited and can't produce the receipt, the ITC is denied. No exceptions.

A missing $48 restaurant receipt isn't just $48 lost — it's the HST on that $48, denied. Across dozens of receipts a month, that adds up fast.

Source: CRA — Input tax credits · Excise Tax Act, s. 169(4)
How it works

Capture every receipt.
Automatically.

1

Snap a photo

Take a photo of any receipt — paper, email, or PDF. Nabbit works on any phone.

2

AI reads it

Vendor, amount, date, HST — extracted in seconds. No manual entry.

3

Synced everywhere

Filed to Google Drive, recorded in QuickBooks, or stored in SharePoint. CRA-ready.

Who Is Nabbit Built For?

✓

HST extracted automatically

Nabbit reads and records the HST separately on every receipt — exactly what you need to file ITCs.

✓

CRA-ready documentation

Every receipt stored with vendor, date, amount, and tax. Produces audit-ready records on demand.

✓

Syncs to QuickBooks

Receipts flow directly into QuickBooks Online so your bookkeeper has everything they need.

✓

Google Drive backup

Every receipt image backed up to your own Google Drive folder. You own your records.

What Does the CRA Actually Require, and What Does Nabbit Do About It?

What documents do you need to claim an ITC?

CRA expects documentary evidence for every business expenditure, and the details an ITC claim needs grow with the size of the purchase:

That means the $12 parking receipt you shoved in your cupholder matters. So does the $4.99 Dropbox charge on your credit card. And when the CRA audits, they check all of it.

The 6-year retention rule

Under the Income Tax Act and the Excise Tax Act, Canadian businesses must keep all records and supporting documents for a minimum of six years from the end of the tax year to which they relate. That means receipts from 2020 are still fair game in a 2026 audit. Paper fades. Inboxes get deleted. Nabbit stores every receipt image in your own Google Drive or SharePoint — timestamped, searchable, and CRA-ready for the full six years.

What a denied ITC actually costs you

If the CRA disallows an ITC in an audit, you're on the hook for the full tax amount plus arrears interest (currently 9% per year, compounded daily) from the date the credit was originally claimed. On a denied $10,000 in ITCs, that's $900 per year in interest alone — on top of the HST you have to repay. Nabbit's per-receipt capture means every ITC you claim has documentation behind it before it ever reaches your return.

What Happens If You Cannot Produce a Receipt in an Audit?

The CRA can deny the Input Tax Credit tied to that purchase and can disallow the expense deduction as well. You may owe back the GST/HST you claimed, plus interest, and penalties can apply. A digital copy of the receipt is the evidence CRA expects, so the safest habit is to capture it on the day you pay. The guide No Receipt, No ITC walks through how this plays out.

What Counts as a Valid Digital Receipt?

CRA accepts electronic records when they are readable, complete, and can be produced on request. A photo works only if every required detail is legible: supplier name, date, amounts, and the GST/HST registration number where one is required. See what receipts CRA requires for the full list.

Where Can You Check the Rules Yourself?

Read the source. CRA explains input tax credits and the record-keeping rules in RC188 Keeping Records on Canada.ca. For how long to keep receipts, see our retention guide. More guides are in the resource library, and the how Nabbit works page shows the capture flow.

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