GST/HST filing in Abbotsford

Zero-rated is not the same as exempt, and the difference is your money

Two categories both mean the customer pays no sales tax, and they behave in opposite ways. A zero-rated supply is taxable at a rate of 0%: you charge nothing, and because the supply is still taxable you keep the right to claim input tax credits on everything you bought to make it. An exempt supply is outside the system: you charge nothing and you recover nothing, so the tax you paid on your inputs is a permanent cost buried in your margin.

For an Abbotsford producer this is the whole ballgame. Basic groceries and a defined range of agricultural and fishing products are zero-rated. Meanwhile the fuel, equipment, packaging, repairs, contractors and professional fees that go into producing them carry 5% GST that is fully recoverable. The arithmetic runs one direction: tax paid consistently exceeds tax collected, and the business is owed money by the CRA in most reporting periods. Our note on zero-rated versus exempt supplies sets out how the two categories are distinguished.

If you are always in a refund position, your filing frequency is a cash flow decision

Filing frequency is usually treated as an administrative nuisance — how often you have to do paperwork. For a business in a structural refund position it is nothing of the kind. Every reporting period that passes is money sitting with the CRA instead of in your account. A producer filing annually is, in effect, lending the government the GST on a year of input purchases interest-free.

The assigned frequency depends on annual taxable supplies, but a registrant can often elect to file more frequently than required. For a refund-position business that election is straightforward value: quarterly instead of annual, or monthly instead of quarterly, converts a once-a-year lump into a regular inflow. It is worth pairing with the discipline that makes refunds arrive rather than stall — complete purchase records, supplier registration numbers captured, and the return reconciled to the books rather than assembled from a bank feed. Our overview of what the CRA checks is a useful read for anyone regularly claiming refunds, because refund claims draw more attention than payments do.

PST runs alongside, on its own rules

British Columbia did not harmonise. Provincial sales tax at 7% is administered by the BC Ministry of Finance, registered separately from GST, filed separately, and applied under a different set of rules. The most important structural difference is that PST paid on business inputs is generally a cost rather than a recoverable credit — there is no PST equivalent of an input tax credit. British Columbia does provide defined exemptions for certain categories of farm and production equipment and supplies, but they are category-specific rather than general, so the exemption has to be confirmed for the actual item rather than assumed from the industry. Our BC PST guide covers registration and the small seller position, and the rates sit with their source on the BC tax facts page.

What the engagement covers

• GST/HST registration, or a review of your current filing frequency
• Returns prepared and filed on your reporting schedule
• Sales classified correctly between taxable, zero-rated and exempt
• Input tax credits identified and claimed, including on capital purchases
• Separate BC PST registration and returns where PST applies
• Reconciliation of both filings back to your bookkeeping
• CRA correspondence and refund follow-up handled for you

Remote, from an office that happens to be here

EverStone is a sole practitioner CPA firm and its single office is in Abbotsford, so of all the cities on this site this is the one with an actual address. Even so, the engagement is built to run online: records arrive electronically, returns are reviewed on a video call, and approvals are signed digitally. Nobody needs to lose a working morning to a meeting. The sales tax calculator is available if you want to check a figure before you get in touch.