01
Registering for one and assuming it covers both
The most common one by a distance. They are different registrations with different numbers. Having a GST number does not put you on the province’s books, and nobody writes to tell you.
GST and PST in British ColumbiaTwo taxes two sets of rules
GST goes to the CRA. PST goes to the province. They register separately, file separately, and disagree about what is taxable. Being signed up for one tells you nothing about whether you need the other.
Work it out
BC sales tax calculator
GST 5% plus PST 7% is 12% combined on most goods in British Columbia.
- Subtotal
- $100.00
- GST (5%)
- $5.00
- PST (7%)
- $7.00
- Total
- $112.00
Most goods carry both. Many services are exempt from PST while still attracting GST — see what is and is not taxable. Rates current as of July 2026.
The rates
Most BC owners meet these two taxes in the wrong order: they register for one, assume it covers them, then hear about the other from a letter. Two governments, two registrations, two sets of deadlines, two definitions of what is taxable.
Neither one tells you anything about the other. Being registered for GST does not mean you should be registered for PST, and being exempt from PST does not exempt you from GST.
5%
GST
Federal. You usually have to register once you pass $30,000 in revenue over four quarters. You charge it on most sales, and you claim back the GST you paid on business purchases.
7%
PST
Provincial, and completely separate. Its own registration, its own deadlines, its own list of what is taxable. Most goods are taxable and many services are exempt. You cannot claim any of it back.
Side by side
Where the two differ
Who collects it
The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), federally.
The BC Ministry of Finance, provincially.
When you must register
Generally once you pass $30,000 in revenue over four consecutive quarters. You can register earlier by choice.
It turns on what you sell, not how much. Most businesses selling goods in BC need to register; many service businesses do not.
What it applies to
Most goods and services, with a defined set of zero-rated and exempt categories.
A different list again. Many services are exempt while most goods are not, and the two lists do not line up.
Can you claim it back
Yes. You claim input tax credits for the GST you paid on business purchases, so you remit the difference.
No. There is no input credit. PST you pay on business inputs is generally a cost, not something you recover.
How often you file
Monthly, quarterly or annually, on the schedule the CRA assigns you.
On the schedule the province assigns you, which will not necessarily match your GST period.
What is taxable
What carries PST and what does not
The two lists do not line up, and neither one follows a rule you can guess from first principles. PST has its own definition of what is taxable, and it is narrower than GST in some places and wider in others.
What follows is the shape of it, not the whole of it. The categories are drawn tightly and have been redrawn before, and the only version that matters is the one covering what you sell.
Usually carries PST
- Goods sold or leased in BC — stock, equipment, furniture, tools, vehicles
- Software, and telecommunication services
- Work performed on goods: repairs, maintenance, restoration
- Legal services
- Accommodation
- Goods bought outside BC and brought in for use here
Usually does not
- Food for human consumption
- Books, newspapers and magazines
- Children's clothing and footwear
- Bicycles
- Prescription medications
- Labour to improve real property — though the materials are a different question
That last one catches contractors in particular. You generally do not charge PST on improving real property, but you usually do pay PST on the materials that go into it. Those materials are a cost to you, not something you collect and pass along. It is the single most common place a trades business prices a job wrong.
If you are not certain which side your work falls on, that is a reasonable position to be in and a bad one to guess at. Say what you sell in the form and we will tell you in the quote.
Registering
Whether you have to register at all
The GST test is about size: broadly, once you pass $30,000 in revenue over four consecutive quarters you must register. You can register earlier by choice.
PST does not work that way. It turns on what you sell, not how much, so a small business can be required to register from its first sale while a much larger one never is. There is no revenue figure to wait for. That is why so many people find out late.
The return
Filing the return: the FIN 400
The PST return is form FIN 400. Most businesses file it online through eTaxBC instead of on paper. You report what you sold, what PST you collected, and any PST you owe on things you bought without paying it, then pay the balance with the return.
The return itself is not the hard part. Filing it from unreconciled books is. The figure on the return has to match the figure in the bank, and if the month was never closed there is nothing to check it against. You end up defending a number you cannot trace.
There is no input credit either, which is the other half of why PST catches people out. Unlike GST, what you collect is what you remit. PST you paid on your own purchases does not come off it.
Deadlines
How often you file and by when
You do not choose your reporting period. The province assigns one when you register, based on how much PST it expects you to collect, and tells you what it is. It can be changed later, and it changes on their initiative as often as yours.
Whichever you are on, the rule is the same: the return and the payment must arrive by the last day of the month after the period ends.
Monthly
The highest collection volumes.
Last day of the following month — so January is due 28 February.
Quarterly
The band most small businesses that collect PST land in.
Last day of the month after the quarter ends.
Semi-annual
Lower volumes, assigned at the province’s discretion.
Last day of the month after the six months end.
Annual
The smallest collectors.
Last day of the month after the year ends.
The trap is assuming this lines up with GST. It generally does not. The CRA assigns your GST period and the province assigns your PST period, independently, using different information. A business filing GST quarterly can easily be on a monthly PST cycle, and a calendar built around one of them will miss the other.
Self-assessment
When you owe PST nobody charged you
PST also runs the other way. You can owe it on your own purchases, and that is the part almost nobody knows about until a review turns it up.
The principle is simple: buy something for use in BC where PST should have applied but was not charged, and you have to report and pay it yourself. That is self-assessment, and it goes on the same return.
In practice it shows up in three places. Buying equipment or supplies from an out-of-province seller who is not registered here. Importing goods for use in the business. And taking something out of your own resale stock to use yourself, which is a sale to you as far as PST is concerned even though no money moved.
None of those feel like taxable events while they are happening, and that is the problem. They are ordinary purchases that arrive without PST on the invoice, and the obligation sits with the buyer, not the seller.
Questions
What people ask about PST
What is GST and PST in BC?
Two separate sales taxes that both apply in British Columbia. GST is federal, 5%, and goes to the Canada Revenue Agency. PST is provincial, 7%, and goes to the BC Ministry of Finance. On most goods you charge both, for a combined 12%. They have separate registrations, separate returns, separate deadlines and different rules about what is taxable.
What is the difference between GST and PST?
Three differences matter in practice. Who you register and file with: the CRA for GST, the province for PST. What triggers registration: revenue for GST, what you sell for PST. And whether you get it back: GST on business purchases comes off what you remit, PST never does. PST is a cost.
Do I need to register for PST in BC?
It depends on what you sell, not how much. Most businesses selling or leasing goods in BC need to register, as do those selling certain specified services. Many service businesses do not. There is no revenue threshold to wait for the way there is with GST, so this is worth checking properly instead of assuming.
What is a PST number in BC?
The registration number the province issues once you are registered to collect PST. It is separate from your GST number and from your business number, and it goes on your invoices and on your returns. Having one of the two numbers tells you nothing about whether you should have the other.
How do I file PST in BC?
On form FIN 400, the Provincial Sales Tax Return, filed online through eTaxBC for most businesses. You report your sales, the PST you collected and any PST you owe on your own purchases, and pay the balance with the return. It is due by the last day of the month after your reporting period ends.
What happens if I should have registered for PST and did not?
You owe the PST you should have collected, plus interest, whether or not you charged it. If you did not charge it, it comes out of your own margin, because those customers are long gone. Coming forward voluntarily usually beats being found. Get advice before you do either.
Do GST and PST have the same filing deadline?
No, and assuming they do is one of the more common ways a return gets missed. The CRA assigns your GST reporting period and the province assigns your PST one, separately and using different information. They frequently do not align.
What goes wrong
Four ways this catches people out
02
Charging PST on something exempt, or missing it on something taxable
Both directions cause problems. Charge tax you should not have, and you owe your customer a refund. Miss tax you should have charged, and you pay it out of your own margin, because the customer is long gone.
03
Treating the two filing calendars as one
The periods are assigned separately and often do not align. A business that files GST quarterly can easily be on a different PST cycle, and remembering only one of them is how a return gets missed.
04
Leaving the money in the operating account
Sales tax you collect is not revenue. It is money you are holding for a government. Spending it in a good month and finding it gone at the deadline is extremely common, and the shortfall comes out of the owner’s pocket.
What we do
What we do about it
We confirm both registrations at the start, not at the first deadline. If you should be registered for something and are not, you hear it in the written quote, not a year later.
From there we prepare and file both returns on schedule, GST to the CRA and PST to the BC Ministry of Finance, and we hold the deadlines. The amounts owing come out of books reconciled during the month, so the figure on the return matches the figure in the bank.
If you should have registered earlier than you did, we explain what that involves before we do anything about it. Coming forward voluntarily usually puts you in a better position than being found. Either way you should hear the options from your bookkeeper, not from a letter.
Not sure which you are registered for?
Say so in the form. We check both against what you sell and confirm them in your written quote, before we file anything.
Plenty of owners have only ever registered for one of the two. It is fixable. Say so in the form and we will check both in your quote. Rates current as of July 2026.