GST and PST filing for Fraser Valley businesses, and what applies to yours
Quick answer: A Fraser Valley business deals with two sales taxes that do not talk to each other. GST at 5% is federal, registered and filed with the CRA, and applies to most sales of goods and services once you pass the small-supplier threshold. BC PST at 7% is provincial, registered and filed separately with the Ministry of Finance, and applies to sales of goods and a defined list of services — so many service businesses charge GST but not PST, and many contractors pay PST on materials without ever charging it. Which combination applies depends on what you sell, not where in the valley you sell it.
Two taxes, two registrations
British Columbia did not harmonise, so the valley runs on the same two-tax system as the rest of the province. GST is filed on the CRA’s return, monthly, quarterly or annually depending on your revenue and your election. PST has its own registration number, its own return and its own due dates. The most common bookkeeping failure we see on a new file is one register treated as if it were the other: PST paid on purchases claimed as if it were an input tax credit (it is not recoverable), or GST charged on a PST-exempt service as if the two exemptions matched (they do not).
Who has to register for what
- GST: once taxable revenue passes the small-supplier threshold in four consecutive quarters, registration is mandatory. Many businesses register earlier by choice so they can recover the GST on start-up costs and equipment.
- PST: registration turns on what you sell. Goods, and a defined list of services (legal, telecom, some software and related services), are taxable; most other services are not. A consulting corporation in Langley usually needs GST only; a retailer in Mission or an equipment dealer on the Langley Bypass needs both. Our BC PST guide goes through the categories.
The three Fraser Valley cases that come up most
Contractors and trades
A contractor who supplies and installs materials into real property generally pays PST on the materials as the consumer and does not charge PST to the customer, while charging GST on the whole job. Who pays the PST, and whether it was priced into the quote, is the question that decides whether a Chilliwack framer’s or a Surrey excavator’s margin is what they think it is. Holdbacks add a timing question on the GST side: our holdbacks guide covers when the tax on a held-back amount is reported.
Farms and the businesses around them
BC provides PST exemptions for defined categories of farm equipment and supplies, and GST zero-rates most basic groceries and many farm inputs. Both are category-specific. A Chilliwack dairy or an Abbotsford berry operation should confirm the treatment of each item rather than assume the industry is exempt, and the businesses that sell to farms — equipment dealers, feed and input suppliers — carry the documentation burden for the exemptions they honour. See the farm accounting pages for the year-end side.
Refund-position businesses
Exporters, new businesses buying equipment, and anyone whose input tax credits exceed the GST they collect are owed money every period. For them filing frequency is a cash-flow decision: a monthly filer gets the refund months sooner than an annual one. The election is straightforward; the reason to make it is the balance sheet.
Work across municipal lines
Sales tax is province-wide. A Mission crew on a Maple Ridge site, or an Abbotsford trucking company running Highway 1 to Surrey, charges and pays the same GST and PST wherever the work is. What does change with the municipality is the business licence, which is why the Fraser Valley inter-municipal licence exists; the regional page covers that side. Do not let a licensing question turn into a sales-tax question — they are separate.
What EverStone files, and for whom
The engagement covers both registrations from one set of books: GST returns and PST returns prepared from reconciled bookkeeping, filing frequency reviewed against your cash position, and the quick method considered where it helps. It is delivered online from Abbotsford to businesses across the valley, at a fixed fee agreed in writing before any work starts. City pages: Abbotsford · Chilliwack · Mission · Langley · Surrey · Maple Ridge.
Book a free consultation See the fixed fees
Sources: CRA — GST/HST for businesses · Government of BC — Provincial sales tax. General information, not advice.
Frequently asked
Do I file GST and PST on the same return?+
My crew works in Abbotsford, Mission and Langley. Does that change my sales tax?+
I am always in a GST refund position. Should I file more often?+
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