Accountant for Massage Therapists in BC
Most registered massage therapists are self-employed even when they work inside someone else’s clinic. You may rent a room, take a split, work from a home studio or drive to clients, and each arrangement changes what you can deduct and what you report.
EverStone CPA prepares returns, keeps books and gives tax advice to RMTs and massage clinic owners in every part of BC, by email and secure upload.
Quick answer: A typical RMT files a personal return with a T2125 for massage income, and claims room rent or split fees, linens, oils, insurance, college dues and vehicle costs against it. Clinic owners who employ staff or keep profit in the business may look at incorporating, if their college allows it. Tips and gift-card sales are income too, and need a clear record.
Massage therapists we work with
RMT work is organised in more ways than most health professions. These are the arrangements we see most.
- RMTs renting a treatment room at a flat weekly or monthly rate
- Therapists paid a percentage of each treatment by a clinic
- Home-studio RMTs treating clients in a room of their own house
- Mobile therapists who travel to homes, workplaces and events
- Owners of massage clinics with several therapists and a reception desk
- RMTs working part-time alongside another job, or in more than one clinic
If you work at more than one clinic, keep each one’s statements separately. Your income is the total you earned from all of them, whether or not each clinic sends a slip.
Should an RMT incorporate?
For many working RMTs the answer is not yet. A therapist’s body limits how many treatments fit in a week, and that caps the income a company could shelter.
Why most RMTs stay sole proprietors
A T2125 on your own return is cheap to prepare and easy to keep. If you spend most of what you earn, a corporation adds cost without adding much tax deferral.
When a company can make sense
A clinic owner with several therapists, steady profit and plans to reinvest may benefit. Active business income kept in the company is taxed at 11% combined in BC on the first $500,000.
College rules come first
Whether a massage therapist may practise through a corporation depends on your college and its current rules. Check with them before incorporating; we plan the tax around their answer.
Room-renters and PSB risk
An incorporated therapist who works like an employee of one clinic can face personal services business rules, which remove the low rate. Structure matters as much as the decision.
Read the timing guide to incorporating and our personal services business risk check. Incorporation advice covers the setup when you are ready.
Paying yourself as an RMT
As a sole proprietor you simply transfer money to yourself; tax is on the profit, not the transfers. Once a clinic is incorporated, the owner’s pay needs a plan.
Unincorporated: set money aside
No one withholds tax from your fees. Keep a separate savings account and move a share of every week’s takings into it for income tax and CPP.
Instalments arrive later
Once net tax owing passes $3,000 in the current year and either of the two before, the CRA expects quarterly instalments. It often surprises therapists in year two or three.
Incorporated: salary or dividends
Salary builds RRSP room and CPP, and needs payroll. Dividends need no payroll but create no RRSP room. We help clinic owners choose a mix each year.
The tax instalment calculator estimates your payments, and the salary vs dividends calculator helps clinic owners compare.
GST and PST for massage therapy
Pending a per-practice review
How GST/HST and PST apply to massage therapy depends on the service you provide and your regulated status as a practitioner. Product sales, spa-style add-ons and gift cards can each change the picture, so we do not give a single answer for every RMT.
Tell us what you offer, how you bill and where you work. We will confirm the treatment for your practice in writing when we reply to your enquiry.
Therapists on a split, reception staff and WorkSafeBC
Massage clinic owners usually pay therapists as contractors and reception staff as employees. The arrangement has to fit the facts, not only the contract.
Contractor therapists
A therapist who sets their own schedule, brings their own supplies and carries their own insurance looks like a contractor. A clinic that sets every shift and dress code starts to look like an employer.
Slips for contractors
Some clinics issue T4A slips to contractor therapists. They are due by the last day of February. If you are the therapist, report all your fees whether or not a slip arrives.
Employees and WorkSafeBC
Front desk staff go on payroll with source deductions and at least 4% vacation pay. Register with WorkSafeBC as an employer and pay premiums on that payroll.
Read the subcontractor vs employee guide and vacation pay rules. Our payroll service handles the pay runs and slips.
Booking apps, tips and gift cards
Booking software holds most of an RMT’s records. The bookkeeping job is to turn its reports into income and expense totals you can file from.
Booking and payment reports
Export the year’s sales and payout reports from your booking app. Card payouts arrive with fees deducted, so record the full treatment fee and the processing fee separately.
Tips are income
Tips paid by card or in cash are part of your self-employed income. Card tips show in your payment reports; keep a simple log for cash tips.
Gift cards and packages
A gift card sold in December and redeemed in March is earned in March. Clinics that sell many should track outstanding balances so revenue is not counted early.
For a sole RMT, a spreadsheet and a separate bank account often do the job. Clinics benefit from monthly bookkeeping. See separating business and personal money.
Tables, vehicles and a home studio
RMT expenses are modest but frequent. Small supplies are expensed; larger items go through capital cost allowance.
- Treatment tables, hot stone kits and portable tables are capital items claimed through CCA
- Linens, oils, laundry and sanitising supplies are expensed when bought
- College fees, liability insurance and continuing education are deductible
- A mobile RMT claims the business share of vehicle costs, backed by a log
- A home studio used regularly for clients supports a share of home costs
Our mileage and vehicle log makes the vehicle claim easy to support, and the vehicle deduction guide explains the rules. The T2125 guide shows where each cost goes.
Points worth knowing as an RMT
Room rent vs split fees
Flat room rent is a fixed cost you pay even in a slow week. A percentage split rises and falls with your bookings. Either is deductible; the choice affects cash flow.
Injury and time off
Self-employed therapists have no paid sick leave. A cash reserve and suitable disability insurance matter more than any deduction.
Two jobs, one return
RMTs with an employed role report the T4 and the T2125 together. Withholding on the job may not cover tax on the massage income.
Seasonal swings
Bookings often dip around holidays and summer. Budget across the year rather than month by month.
Read about managing cash flow in a seasonal business.
Tax-time checklist for a BC massage therapist
Gather these before you send your return. Most RMTs can finish the list in an afternoon.
- Income totals from every clinic. Statements, split reports and any T4A slips.
- Booking app and card reports. Gross sales, tips and processing fees for the calendar year.
- Cash takings log. Cash treatments and cash tips.
- Rent or split paid. Clinic invoices or your own record of fees paid.
- Supplies and equipment. Receipts for linens, oils, tables and anything else bought for work.
- Insurance, dues and courses. Liability insurance, college fees and continuing education.
- Vehicle log and home costs. Kilometres driven for work and, for a home studio, the area used.
Self-employed returns are due June 15, but any balance owing is still due April 30. The personal tax deadline page has the dates.
Fees for RMTs and massage clinics
- RMT personal return with a T2125: commonly $250–$450
- Personal return with no business income: from $100
- Monthly bookkeeping for a massage clinic: from $300 a month, GST and PST filing included
- Clinic payroll for reception staff: quoted with the bookkeeping
- Clinic T2 corporate return: quoted after a free consultation
- One question on structure or deductions: an Advice Call at $200 + GST
Fees are fixed in writing before we start. All published prices are on our pricing page.
Questions RMTs ask us
Can I deduct the room rent I pay the clinic?+
Do I have to report tips?+
A clinic did not send me a T4A. Do I still report that income?+
How long do I keep my records?+
Do you work with RMTs outside the Fraser Valley?+
Written and reviewed by a Chartered Professional Accountant at EverStone CPA, an Abbotsford CPA firm working remotely with businesses across British Columbia. Updated . If you would like to know how others found us, you can read client reviews first. Read our editorial standards.
Related reading
Related pages for therapists and clinic owners.
Send an enquiry
Say where and how you work: room rent, split, home studio or mobile, and whether you own a clinic. A CPA will reply within one business day with what we need and the fee in writing.