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Resources · BC PST registration
Sales tax · BC PST

BC PST: what you need to know.

PST doesn’t wait for you to grow into it. For most businesses selling taxable goods, software or services in BC, registration is required before the first sale — and the taxable list is longer than most owners expect, reaching software, repair work, accommodation, and now accounting, engineering and other professional services. Here’s who must register, who’s exempt, and when the clock starts.

Before anything else

PST turns on what you sell, not how much. There is no general revenue threshold — if what you sell is on the taxable list and you sell it in BC, you register first and sell second.

The only exception is a narrow small-seller carve-out (under $10,000 and no business premises and a clean list of what you sell) that most real businesses fail on the premises test alone.

The other thing to understand before the details: PST is a true retail sales tax. What you collect goes to Victoria, and what you pay on business purchases is simply a cost — there is no credit mechanism to claim it back later. That single design choice also explains why most service businesses historically escaped PST entirely.

That escape ended for several professions — accounting included — with the expansion to professional services effective October 1, 2026. First, work out where you stand.

Do you need to register? Decision helper

Three questions. The verdict is a starting point, not a ruling — the edge cases live in the bulletins linked at the bottom of the page.

1. Where is your business located?

2. What do you sell? (check all that apply)

Start above

Answer the questions to see where you land.

Nothing you select is stored or sent anywhere.

How this works: the helper applies the registration rules on the BC government’s Register to collect PST page, the small-seller conditions in Bulletin PST 003, and Notice 2026-001 for professional services. Special regimes (liquor, vehicles, cannabis, vapour products, marketplace facilitators, real property contractors) have extra rules the helper flags but does not fully model. Method notes live on our sources page.

The taxable list

What PST applies to — and at what rate.

Goods are taxable unless exempted; services are exempt unless listed.

CategoryRateExamples
Most taxable goods, new or used7%Furniture, equipment, electronics, building materials, parts
Software & telecom services7%Downloads, SaaS, streaming, internet and phone services
Taxable services7%Repair & installation of goods, legal services
Professional services as of Oct 1, 20267%Accounting, bookkeeping & assurance (yes — our own invoices included), security & private investigation, non-residential real estate services; architecture, engineering & geoscience taxed on 30% of the fee (an effective 2.1%)
Short-term accommodation8%Plus up to 3% Municipal & Regional District Tax (MRDT) in most communities
Liquor10%All alcoholic beverages
Vapour products20%Devices, cartridges and vaping substances
Vehicles7–20%Rate escalates with price; private sales have their own rules

Generally exempt: food for human consumption, restaurant meals, children’s clothing, bicycles, most health and personal services, and everyday business services like consulting, coaching and marketing — plus real property (land and buildings), which lives under its own rules for contractors.

A note on the professional-services row. Those services joined the taxable list effective October 1, 2026 under Budget 2026 — the largest expansion of the PST base in years. Engagements that straddle the effective date follow transitional rules: what governs is when amounts are paid or become due and when the service is provided, not when the contract was signed. If a large engagement crosses that date, map it against the rules rather than assuming the invoice date decides it.

The exceptions

Two carve-outs, both narrower than they sound.

Located in BC

The “small seller” carve-out

You can stay unregistered only if all of these hold:

  • Retail sales of $10,000 or less in the previous 12 months, expected to stay there
  • No established business premises and no regular commercial selling
  • No wholesale sales in the last 12 months
  • None of: accommodation, liquor, vehicles, boats, aircraft, cannabis, vapour products
  • Not a lessor, contractor installing goods into buildings, independent sales contractor, or marketplace facilitator
Who actually fits: the hobbyist selling $4,000 of pottery from a home studio and occasional craft fairs. A business with a storefront, office or booked-every-weekend market stall fails the premises test at any revenue level.
Located outside BC

The out-of-province rules

Selling into BC from elsewhere in Canada? You must generally register if you solicit BC customers (ads, targeting, marketplace listings) and deliver taxable goods into BC — or if your BC revenue from software or telecom services passed $10,000 in the last 12 months.

Sellers outside Canada shipping goods to BC consumers, or selling software and digital services into BC past the same $10,000 mark, are generally caught too.

The common miss: an Alberta e-commerce store or an Ontario SaaS company with growing BC sales. No BC office required — the customer base alone creates the obligation.
The paperwork

Registering is free and mostly painless.

Registration runs through eTaxBC, the province’s online tax portal. The application takes 15–25 minutes; have your business number, incorporation details and a description of what you sell at hand. Processing can take up to 21 business days, so register ahead of launch, not the week of. There’s no fee.

Once registered you’ll have a PST number (“PST-1234-5678” format), a filing frequency assigned by the ministry based on how much tax you collect, and access to file and pay through the same eTaxBC account. The same portal handles the MRDT if you provide accommodation.

And once you’re registered, get in touch. You can add us as an authorized representative on your eTaxBC account — from there we can prepare and file the PST returns, watch the deadlines, and deal with the ministry on your behalf. Happy to help.

Three habits worth building from day one:

  • Treat collected PST as trust money. Move it to a separate account; the remittance deadline doesn’t care about your cash flow.
  • Quote your PST number when buying inventory for resale. The exemption is claimed at the till, not on a return; PST paid by mistake takes a refund application to recover.
  • Keep exemption documentation (customer PST numbers, exemption certificates). In a PST audit, undocumented exempt sales become your liability.
Quick answers

Common questions.

Is there a PST small-supplier threshold like the GST’s $30,000?

No. BC PST has no general revenue threshold — if you sell taxable goods, software or taxable services in BC, you must register before you make your first taxable sale. The only exception is the narrow small-seller carve-out: under $10,000 of gross retail sales in the last 12 months and no established business premises and none of a long list of disqualifying activities. A business with a storefront, office or regular market stall does not qualify at any revenue level.

Do I charge PST on services in BC?

Most services are not taxable — but the taxable list is longer than people think. Taxable: related services (repairing, installing or maintaining goods), legal services, telecommunication services, software, and accommodation.

As of October 1, 2026, the list also includes accounting and bookkeeping, assurance, security and private investigation, non-residential real estate services, and architectural, engineering and geoscience services (the latter three taxed on 30% of the fee).

Is SaaS or downloaded software taxable in BC?

Generally yes. Software in almost every delivery form — downloaded, licensed, software-as-a-service, or accessed in the cloud — is taxable at 7% when used on a device ordinarily situated in BC. This catches out-of-province SaaS vendors too: sell more than $10,000 a year of software or telecom services to BC customers and you are generally required to register and collect.

I sell through Amazon or Etsy — do I still need to register for PST?

Often not for those sales. Online marketplace facilitators are generally required to collect and remit PST on the BC sales they facilitate, so the tax on your marketplace sales is usually the platform’s job. But sales through your own website or in person are still yours, and if those are taxable you still need your own registration. Bulletin PST 142 covers the details.

Do I charge PST to customers outside BC?

Generally no. PST is a BC tax on goods and services purchased or used in BC. Goods you ship to a customer outside the province are generally exempt from BC PST — though the destination province’s rules may apply instead.

The reverse is the trap: sellers outside BC who solicit BC customers and deliver taxable goods here, or who pass the $10,000 threshold selling software or telecom services to BC customers, must register and collect BC PST.

Can I recover the PST I pay, like GST input tax credits?

No — and this is the biggest structural difference from GST. PST is a true retail sales tax with no input credit system: PST you pay on business purchases is simply a cost. What exists instead are point-of-purchase exemptions: goods bought for resale (quote your PST number to the supplier), and production machinery and equipment for qualifying manufacturers, among others. Claim the exemption when you buy, because there is no refund mechanism on your return.

Since when does PST apply to accounting and other professional services?

Effective October 1, 2026. BC Budget 2026 extended PST to accounting and bookkeeping, assurance, security and private investigation, and non-residential real estate services (trading, rental property management, strata management) at 7% of the fee, and to architectural, engineering and geoscience services at 7% of 30% of the fee.

Services straddling the effective date follow transitional rules — what governs is when amounts are paid or become due and when the service is provided, so pre-billing before October 1 does not by itself avoid the tax.

Do I need both a GST number and a PST number?

If you sell taxable things in BC, almost certainly yes — they are separate registrations in separate systems with separate returns. GST is federal (CRA, business number, RT account, $30,000 rolling threshold); PST is provincial (BC Ministry of Finance, eTaxBC, generally no threshold). Registering for one does nothing for the other, and their definitions of what is taxable do not line up. Our GST registration guide covers the federal side.

The other sales tax

Sorted PST? The GST clock runs on different rules.

A rolling $30,000 four-quarter test, two crossing scenarios with different effective dates, and a strategic case for registering before you must. Our GST guide includes a threshold checker — enter five quarters, see where you stand.

Read the GST guide
Where this comes from

Primary sources.

Everything technical on this page traces back to one of these. Figures change — check the source before relying on a number.

When you’re ready to set it up

Sales tax setup is an hour of work — or a year of cleanup.

We’ll confirm exactly what PST applies to in your business, register you with the right dates, and set up the invoicing and the trust-money habit so it never surprises you — then, as your authorized representative on eTaxBC, handle the filings from there.

Book a 30-min chat Send us an email
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Reviewed by Steven Alexander, CPA · Updated