As you may have heard through the grapevine small businesses will see a change coming October 1 2026 as the B.C. government increases list of services that must charge PST. The B.C. government has stated that this change is to reflect the province’s shift from a focus on the sale of goods, to a more service-based economy. This expansion intends to modernize the tax system, align with other provinces who already tax similar professional services, and increase revenue to address structural deficits.
Who is being added to the list of services that must charge PST?
The services required to start charging PST on October 1 2026 are:
- Accounting services – Including bookkeeping
- Architectural services
- Engineering and geoscience services
- Security services (including private investigation services)
- Non-residential real estate services, including trading services, rental property management services and strata management services
Accounting services include preparing accounting records, bookkeeping, accounting, account reconciliation, and analyzing accounts payable. Even if you reside outside of B.C. or carry on a business outside of B.C., you are still subject to PST for services provided in B.C. For example, a person who lives in Alberta that hires a B.C. accountant for a Vancouver based business, will be taxed PST. Even if you are not a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA), you are still required to register.
How does this affect me?
With this new requirement, beginning October 1 2026, if you are one of these types of businesses, you will be required to register to collect and remit PST with eTax B.C. To prepare for this change, you can register online, despite not having to collect PST until October 1 2026.
What this means as a consumer of these services is you will be subject to paying PST and therefore, will likely experience a price increase.
For Homeroom clients, specifically, this means 7% in provincial tax will be added to our invoices after this date. It will be an industry wide change which is unfortunately out of our control
That said, we’re a small business so we understand that changes like this are difficult and we want to work with you to make the increase as bearable as possible. As an act of support we will freeze our bookkeeping fee for 2027 so that no additional increases in our service cost beyond the mandatory tax and any third party software increases are experienced.
Are there exemptions?
While the provincial government is still ironing out the details, exemptions on services are still to be determined. However, if you are a small seller, you are not required to register and collect PST.
A small seller must meet all of the set requirements as established by the province, including:
- You sell eligible goods, software or services at retail
- You have $10,000 or less in gross revenue from all retail sales of eligible goods, software, and services in the previous 12 months, and your estimated gross revenue in the next 12 months is $10,000 or less
- You have not sold goods at wholesale in the previous 12 months
For a complete list of requirements, please see Bulletin PST 003.
What can I do to protest this decision?
If you, like us, are not a fan of these new legislations, you can sign this petition for your opposition to this change to be heard. Please share this petition far and wide and talk to your local government representatives about your opposition to this change. Small businesses are essential to our economy. Many already have thin profit margins so adding 7% to essential business services can have a detrimental ripple effect on communities.