What’s Taxable under the PST and What’s Not?

What’s Taxable under the PST and What’s Not?

During the summer of 2011, British Columbians’ participated in a province-wide referendum on the harmonized sales tax (HST). On August 26, 2011, Elections BC announced that residents voted in favour of eliminating the HST and returning to the provincial sales tax (PST) plus federal goods and services tax (GST) system.
Following the referendum results, government committed to make the transition back to the PST/GST system. The Provincial Sales Tax  (PST) will be re-implemented on April 1, 2013. The PST, will be a retail sales tax that applies when a taxable good or service is acquired for personal or business use, unless an exemption applies.
The PST will generally apply to:
˜˜ The purchase or lease of new and used goods in British Columbia unless specifically exempted;
˜˜ Taxable goods brought, sent or delivered into British Columbia for use in British Columbia;
˜˜ The purchase of:
šš Software; šš Legal services; and
šš Related services (i.e., services to most taxable goods); šš Telecommunication services.
šš Accommodation
The link below  http://www.pstinbc.ca/media/2013_GST_PST_List_WEB.pdf.pdf provides general information on which goods and services will be taxable under the Provincial Sales Tax Act and
which will not (either because of a specific exemption or because the goods or services are not included in the tax base), subject to the approval of the legislature and passing of regulations.  This is not an exhaustive list of all goods and services. The PST exemptions for some listed goods and services are subject to conditions. Additional information about those goods and services will be provided in the near future.
If you have questions about the application of the HST to the purchase of the listed goods and services, please contact the Canada Revenue Agency  at http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/bsnss/tpcs/gst-tps/menu-eng.html