Taxes for Canadian Lash Artists: What No One Is Telling You

If you’re a lash artist in Canada and you’re just winging your taxes, we need to talk. Many lash artists end up overpaying, under-reporting, or completely unprepared when tax season hits. And no one teaches this in lash training, so let’s fix that! 

First Things First: You’re a Business

If you’re taking clients and getting paid, you’re running a business. Period.

Most lash artists in Canada operate as sole proprietors, which means you need to report your income properly. Even if you’re working from home, only taking a few clients, or strictly getting paid in cash, it still applies.

There’s no minimum income threshold to report what you earn, and all income—cash included—is taxable. As your business grows, you may also need to register for GST/HST once you earn over $30,000 in any 12-month period (4 consecutive quarters), and you’ll be responsible for contributing to CPP as a self-employed individual. 

“Cash Doesn’t Count” — Let’s Clear That Up

We hear this all the time: “Cash clients don’t count, right?” Wrong. All income counts, including cash, e-transfers, deposits, and tips. If it came into your hands because of your lash services, it’s income. Not reporting it might feel harmless, but if you’re the subject of an audit, it won’t be.

What You Need to Track (And What We Recommend)

Keep it simple, but let’s make it real. You need to track your total income from every client and every payment type, your expenses, and your receipts.

Here’s what actually works for lash artists:

• QuickBooks Self-Employed: connects to your bank account, tracks income and expenses automatically, and helps estimate taxes so you’re not guessing
• Wave Accounting: free and Canadian-friendly, great if you’re newer and want something simple
• Expensify: take a photo of receipts and forget about the paper clutter
• Square or Stripe: keeps all your card payments organized in one place

Pro tip: open a separate business bank account. If your income and your Sephora runs are mixed together, tax time gets messy.

Write-Offs Lash Artists Are Sleeping On

This is where things get strategic. These are legitimate business expenses that can reduce how much tax you owe—but only if you’re actually tracking them properly.

• Supplies and tools like lash trays, adhesives, tweezers, disposables—even Ergo (you bet she’s a write-off)
• Studio costs like rent, or a percentage of your home if you work from home (based on the space used for business)
• Business essentials like your phone bill and WiFi (business-use portion only)
• Booking platforms like Fresha or GlossGenius
• Education such as lash courses, certifications, and workshops
• Marketing like branding shoots, ads, and website costs

If you’re not tracking these consistently, you’re leaving money on the table.

GST/HST: The Part Everyone Ignores

Once you make $30,000 or more in revenue over any 12-month period (4 consecutive quarters), you are required to register for GST/HST and start charging it to clients.

However, you might actually want to register before you hit $30K so you can claim back GST/HST on your business expenses (input tax credits).

If you’re using something like QuickBooks Self-Employed, it will help you track how close you are to that threshold and keep your tax collected organized so you’re not scrambling later.

How Much Should You Be Saving?

Save around 20–30% of your income for taxes. This can vary depending on your income and province, but it’s a solid starting point.

Make it automatic:

• Set up a second savings account
• Every time you get paid, move 20–30% immediately

If you wait until the end of the year, it’s usually already gone.

Common Lash Artist Tax Mistakes

Not tracking income consistently, mixing personal and business money, ignoring taxes until the last minute, not keeping receipts, and guessing instead of knowing.

Also, relying only on your booking app and thinking that’s “good enough.” It’s not. You still need proper tracking or software backing it up.

A Simple System That Actually Works

You don’t need anything complicated, but you do need a system.

• Use QuickBooks Self-Employed or Wave Accounting
• Separate your bank accounts
• Use Expensify for receipts
• Check your numbers once a week
• Do a deeper check-in once a month

That’s how you stay in control without it taking over your life.

Final Thoughts

Being a successful lash artist isn’t just about perfect retention and clean sets. It’s about running a real business. The artists who understand their money grow faster, stress less, and keep more of what they earn.

If this helped you, save it, share it, and send it to your lash bestie who’s still pretending taxes don’t exist 😜 Andddd.. you don't have to go it alone—check out our free resources designed to help you stay organized, save money, and master your finances.