Crowcery
On a Canadian Costco receipt most prices have no letter after them at all, some end in H, a few in G, and the footer prints two odd-looking lines like P HST 14% and G GST 5%. Here is what the letters mean and how to make the footer numbers add up, verified by recomputing the printed totals on real receipts: Atlantic Canada first, then British Columbia and Alberta, where the flags read GP and G.
H means HST was charged on that line, G means GST was; no letter means the item was not taxed.
| Flag | What it means |
|---|---|
| (nothing) | Zero-rated: no tax. Most basic groceries, which is why most of a Costco grocery receipt carries no letter. |
| H | Fully taxable: HST (or your province's full rate) was charged. Paper goods, snacks, supplements, household items. |
| G | Only the 5% federal GST was charged. Children's clothing, for example, in provinces with the point-of-sale rebate (NS, ON, PE). |
A blank is not a printing error. Unlike Loblaws-family receipts, which stamp a letter cluster on every line, Costco only marks the items that were taxed.
Looking at the receipt on costco.ca instead of the paper? On the two
Ontario receipts we have seen from the website's receipt view (September 2026), every line
carried a letter: Y on the taxed items (the TAX line was 13% HST of the Y
items after their rebates on both) and N on the untaxed ones, where an
Ontario paper receipt would print H and nothing. The view also wrote rebates as
<coupon> / <parent item number> or <coupon> /WORD
without the TPD word. Same math, different letters; what the view prints in a GST-only or
GST+PST province we have not seen.
A mock-up of real Nova Scotia Costco receipt lines (14% HST; identifying details altered). The math reconciles to the cent:
The single TAX line above the total is the sum of the two footer lines: $3.22 + $0.50 = $3.72. Each footer line reconciles against one flag:
The HST line is 14% of the H items: $6.99 + $15.99 = $22.98, and 14% of that is $3.22.
The GST line is 5% of the G items after their discounts: $12.99 - $3.00 (the TPD line, which is also flagged G) = $9.99, and 5% of that is $0.50. Discounts reduce the tax: you pay tax on what you actually paid, and a TPD line carries the same flag as the item it discounts so the tax base stays consistent. (What TPD lines are is covered in the Costco receipt anatomy guide.)
The letters in front of the footer lines (P HST, G GST) are Costco's own tax-group labels and do not always match the item flags: in the HST provinces the H items sum into the line labeled P (in Alberta the G items do sum into a line labeled G GST 5%, see below). Go by the percentages, not the front letters.
On the BC and Alberta receipts we have, Costco flags a taxed item with the taxes it carries: GP for GST plus PST in BC, G for GST only in Alberta. The rest of the receipt works as in the east: no letter means no tax, a TPD discount carries the flag of the item it discounts, and the TAX line above the total is what you check against.
| Flag | Where | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| (nothing) | everywhere | Zero-rated: no tax. |
| GP | BC (PST province) | GST 5% and PST 7% both charged. The two are computed and rounded separately, then added into the one TAX line. |
| G | Alberta (no PST) | GST 5%. On an Alberta receipt every taxed item is G, eco fees and discounts included. |
A British Columbia example. A Richmond warehouse receipt (identifying details altered): one appliance, its discount, and an eco fee, all GP:
The GP base is $439.99 - $75.00 + $0.50 = $365.49. Twelve percent of that would be $43.86, but the receipt says $43.85, and that is not a misprint: GST is 5% of $365.49 = $18.27 and PST is 7% = $25.58, each rounded on its own, and $18.27 + $25.58 = $43.85. If your own check is off by exactly one cent, this is usually why. This receipt printed no per-tax breakdown rows below the total, so the single TAX line is all there is to reconcile against.
An Alberta example. An Okotoks warehouse receipt, in full, because it shows the two things that trip people up: eco fees are taxed like the item, and a TPD discount only lowers the tax base when it carries the flag:
Add the G lines, discounts included: $199.99 + $0.40 + $24.99 + $296.99 - $70.00 + $2.75 + $24.99 + $34.99 + $4.97 + $49.99 - $10.00 = $560.06, and 5% of that is the printed $28.00. The four unflagged lines ($4.99, $1.99, $12.99 and the $3.00 cheddar discount) are the untaxed $16.97 that completes the $577.03 subtotal. Note the two TPD lines: the one on the shoes is flagged G and reduces the taxed base; the one on the cheddar has no flag, because the cheddar was never taxed.
Quebec Costco receipts print the two taxes as T.P.S. 5% (the federal GST) and T.V.Q. 9.975% (Quebec's provincial tax), with French item flags, French labels (SOUS-TOTAL for subtotal) and comma decimals on the dollar amounts (28,99 instead of 28.99). The reconciliation logic is the same: group the flagged items, apply each rate.
Sum the H items (minus any TPD lines pointing at them), apply your province's full rate, and compare with the HST/tax line; then the G items at 5%. If you are off, the usual culprit is a missed TPD line, since they carry the discount's share of the flag. The rest of the format (item numbers, the Bottom of Basket banner, the item count) is in the Costco receipt anatomy guide.
Available in Canada; English-language receipts; not offered in Quebec. Or try the read-only demo first, no signup needed.
Which groceries are taxed in Canada, and why
How to read a Costco receipt
Walmart Canada tax codes (D, J, A, Z, Y)
Superstore & Loblaws tax codes (H, MRJ, HMRJ)
Grocery receipt discounts and promo math
Receipt tax code letters, every chain (GP, MRJ, J, C and more)