Sales taxes in British Columbia

Sales taxes in British Columbia are consumption taxes levied in the province since the introduction of the Provincial Sales Tax (PST) on 1 July 1948, part of the Social Service Tax Act. Sales in the province have also been subject to the federal Goods and Services Tax (GST) since its introduction on 1 January 1991.

On 1 July 2010, the PST and GST were combined into the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) levied according to the provisions of the GST. The conversion to HST was controversial. Popular opposition led to a referendum on the tax system, the first such referendum in the Commonwealth of Nations, resulting in the province reverting to the former PST/GST model on 1 April 2013.

The sales taxes levied in the province are the separate 7% PST and 5% GST.

The former British Columbia Provincial Sales Tax (PST) was introduced on July 1, 1948 as part of the Social Service Tax Act. The tax was initially set at 3%, but later rose to 7%. The PST was collected on most goods and some services. The main difference between the national Goods and Services Tax and the B.C. PST was its taxable base, since the GST taxation was levied regardless of whether the good or service was for 'final use' or not.

Non-Taxable Sales and Services When a good or service is not subject to PST, a specific exemption in the legislation isn't needed. Similar to the old PST, the following aren't taxable under the new PST.

The PST revenue was estimated at $5.087 billion for the 2009/2010 fiscal year, from which about $2 billion was paid directly by the business sector. PST revenue accounted for about 13% of the province's total revenues which were budgeted at $38.812 billion.

The HST was a value added tax that combined a 5% federal portion and a 7% provincial portion into one tax paid on almost all purchases of goods and services. The HST came into effect amidst contention among British Columbians on July 1, 2010. The BC Liberal government announced on July 23, 2009 that it intended to replace the PST by an HST, combining the GST with a provincial tax following the same rules as the GST. Had the HST passed the referendum, the BC Liberals contended that they would reduce it to 10% in 2014.

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