BC Expands PST to Professional Services

BC Expands PST to Professional Services: What Businesses Need to Know Before October 1, 2026

The Province of British Columbia has announced one of the most significant Provincial Sales Tax (PST) changes in recent years. Beginning October 1, 2026, PST will apply to several professional services that have historically been exempt from the tax.

These changes will affect both businesses that provide these services and businesses that purchase them.

Which Services Will Become Subject to PST?

Effective October 1, 2026, the 7% PST will apply to:

  • Accounting services, including bookkeeping, tax, assurance, and audit services
  • Architectural services
  • Engineering and geoscience services
  • Security services, including private investigation services
  • Non-residential real estate services, including:
    • Commercial real estate commissions
    • Rental property management services
    • Strata management services

Businesses providing these services will generally be required to register for PST, charge PST on taxable services, and remit the tax to the Ministry of Finance.

Special Rule for Engineering, Geoscience, and Architectural Services

One notable exception applies to architectural, engineering, and geoscience services.

Rather than applying PST to the full fee, PST will apply to only 30% of the purchase price of these services.

For example:

  • Engineering fee: $10,000
  • Taxable portion: $3,000 (30%)
  • PST at 7%: $210

This results in an effective tax rate of 2.1% on the total invoice value.

Who Needs to Register?

If your business provides any of these newly taxable services and is not already registered for PST, you may be required to register with the Ministry of Finance.

The Ministry of Finance began accepting registrations for affected businesses on April 1, 2026.

Businesses should review their service offerings now to determine whether registration will be required and ensure billing systems are prepared before the October 1 implementation date.

What Does This Mean for Businesses Purchasing These Services?

For many businesses, this change will increase the cost of professional services because PST is generally not recoverable in the same manner as GST input tax credits.

Organizations that regularly engage accountants, bookkeepers, property managers, security providers, engineers, architects, or commercial real estate professionals should consider the impact on budgets, project costs, and service contracts.

Are There Exemptions?

The Ministry of Finance has confirmed that certain exemptions and special rules may apply depending on the nature of the service, the location of the purchaser, and how the service is used. Additional administrative guidance continues to be released.

Because the rules differ by service type, businesses should review their specific circumstances before assuming PST applies—or does not apply.

How Avisar Can Help

These changes create new compliance obligations for many businesses and will require updates to invoicing, contracts, pricing models, and tax processes.

If you are unsure whether your services will become taxable, whether you need to register for PST, or how these changes will affect your business, contact your Avisar advisor or book a free consultation.

BC Employment Incentives

BC Increased Employment Incentive

The BC Increased Employment Incentive is a one-time refundable tax credit for BC employers who increased their eligible remuneration paid in October to December 2020 (“qualifying period”) compared to eligible remuneration paid from July to September 2020 (“base period”).

BC Increased Employment: How It Works

The tax credit is 15% of the amount that total eligible remuneration for eligible employees in the “qualifying period” (Oct-Dec 2020) exceeds total eligible remuneration for all eligible employees in the “base period” (July – Sep 2020).   

To qualify as an eligible employee, the employee must report to work in BC. Also, the employee cannot deal at non-arm’s length with the employer unless that the non-arm’s length employee was an employee at the beginning of the “base period”. 

For each eligible employee, the eligible remuneration cannot exceed the maximum amount of $1,129.33 per week. 

Employers will have until December 31, 2021, to apply.  Applications must be made through eTaxBC at https://www.etax.gov.bc.ca/btp/eservices

Calculation of the BC Increased Employment Incentive Example

For more information, please click here.

If you have any questions, please contact your Avisar professional.

Disclaimer: Avisar Chartered Professional Accountant’s blog deals with a number of complex issues in a concise manner; it is recommended that accounting, legal or other appropriate professional advice should be sought before acting upon any of the information contained therein.

Although every reasonable effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this post, no individual or organization involved in either the preparation or distribution of this post accepts any contractual, tortious, or any other form of liability for its contents or for any consequences arising from its use.

BC COVID-19 Action Plan

On March 23, 2020, the BC Government announced its first steps to support people and businesses through the COVID-19 pandemic.  The full announcement can be read here. Some of the highlights are listed below.

Supporting People

  • One time tax-free $1,000 payment to British Columbians who receive Employment Insurance (EI) or the new federal Emergency Care Benefit or Emergency Support Benefit
  • Enhanced BC Climate Action Tax Credits for some families and individuals
  • Freeze on BC student loan payments for six months, starting March 30, 2020.  Federal student loan payments are frozen as well.
  • ICBC and BC Hydro extended deferrals

Supporting Businesses

Effectively immediately, BC is extending filing and payment deadlines for the following taxes until September 30, 2020:

  • Employer Health Tax (EHT)
  • Provincial Sales Tax (PST) (including municipal and regional district tax *)
  • Carbon Tax
  • Motor Fuel Tax
  • Tobacco Tax

* Municipal and regional district tax (MRDT) is the additional 2 or 3% tax on accommodation.

Please contact us if you have additional questions.

Disclaimer: Avisar Chartered Professional Accountant’s blog deals with a number of complex issues in a concise manner; it is recommended that accounting, legal or other appropriate professional advice should be sought before acting upon any of the information contained therein.

Although every reasonable effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this post, no individual or organization involved in either the preparation or distribution of this post accepts any contractual, tortious, or any other form of liability for its contents or for any consequences arising from its use.

BC Employer Training Grant (ETG)

The B.C. Employer Training Grant (ETG), formerly the Canada-British Columbia Job Grant, is an employer-driven, cost-sharing program designed to assist employers in providing skills and trades training to current or future employees to improve their employability and in-demand skillsets.  This grant supports training that is relevant to the current operational needs of the business, the current job of the participant or the available job for which training is required. 

Training programs may be provided in a classroom, online, or onsite, and fall into three streams: Foundational Training, Technical Skills Training, and Workforce Training.  Applications are assessed on a first-come, first-served basis and funding is dependent on availability.

  • Amount: Non-repayable grant contributions of 60-100% of training costs (i.e. course registration, exams, textbooks, software resources, etc.) to a maximum $5,000 to $10,000 per employee.  Each employer can access up to $300,000 in grant funding per provincial fiscal year (April 1 – March 31).
  • Timeline: The current application intake is open for training with start dates from April 1 to August 31, 2019.  Training projects must be completed within the year and cannot be over 12 months in length.
  • Eligibility: Training must be provided by eligible third-party training providers for employees of private and not-for-profit employers operating in BC.  The employee must be a resident of British Columbia, permanent Canadian citizen, or granted refugee status.

For more information, please refer to the B.C. Employer Training Grant website for the full criteria and eligibility requirements of each stream before you apply.

Disclaimer: Avisar Chartered Professional Accountant’s blog deals with a number of complex issues in a concise manner; it is recommended that accounting, legal or other appropriate professional advice should be sought before acting upon any of the information contained therein.

Although every reasonable effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this post, no individual or organization involved in either the preparation or distribution of this post accepts any contractual, tortious, or any other form of liability for its contents or for any consequences arising from its use.