GST/HST filing in Surrey

The work covers the GST/HST return (the GST34), input tax credits, the filing frequency, instalments where they apply and the notice of assessment that follows.

The tax point is earlier than the revenue point

For a business paid on completion, sales tax timing is invisible. For one paid in deposits, draws and progress billings, it is the central problem. GST generally becomes payable on the earlier of the day the invoice is issued and the day the consideration is received. A deposit taken in February for April work belongs to the reporting period it arrived in, not the one in which the job finishes.

So a Surrey contractor ends up holding money that feels like working capital and is not. Deposits go on materials and mobilisation, quite rationally, and then the period closes and the remittance is real. The business was profitable; the cash just moved in the wrong order. The fix is mechanical: move the tax portion of every deposit and draw to a separate account the day it lands.

Progress billings, holdbacks and what the return has to show

With staged billing, each billing has its own tax point, and a period’s return reflects billings issued, not jobs completed. Holdbacks complicate this, because the amount withheld differs from the amount invoiced, so a return prepared from receipts will not agree with one from invoices. Either basis works on its own; switching between them produces a reconciliation nobody can close at year-end.

Reconcile the return to the sales ledger every period (billings issued, tax charged, tax remitted) rather than building it from a bank feed. It takes minutes when the books are current and days when they are not. Read what the CRA looks at in a GST review before the question is asked.

PST on work that improves real property

BC’s 7% PST works differently on construction than most expect. On a contract to improve real property, the contractor is generally the end user of the materials: you pay PST on them instead of charging the customer, so it is a cost inside your price. Supply-only arrangements differ. Because the answer follows the contract wording, settle the treatment before quoting; a price that assumed recovery from the customer cannot absorb the tax later.

PST is registered and filed separately from GST, with the BC Ministry of Finance rather than the CRA, and PST paid on inputs is generally not recoverable. Our BC PST guide covers the registration side, and the rates sit with their source on the BC tax facts page.

What is covered

• GST/HST returns prepared from the sales ledger and filed on your reporting period
• Tax points applied correctly to deposits, draws and progress billings
• Holdback treatment kept consistent between the books and the returns
• Input tax credits claimed on materials, subtrades and equipment
• PST position on real property contracts settled before pricing
• Separate BC PST returns where PST applies to what you sell
• Every return reconciled to the ledger rather than to a bank balance

Remote, with no Surrey office

EverStone has no Surrey office and does not plan one. Surrey businesses are served entirely online: records arrive electronically, returns are reviewed by video call and approved by e-signature, which suits principals working on sites across the city. One CPA holds the file, keeping the deposit treatment consistent from first draw to final billing.

Remote GST/HST filing

EverStone is a fully virtual, one-CPA firm serving Surrey clients online. There is no Surrey office and no local staff. We meet by video or phone, documents move by secure email and e-signature, and no visit is required. Returns use the same books as the corporate return, so the sales figures on the GST return and in the financial statements agree.

Where the same file also needs Surrey corporate returns and personal tax in Surrey, that is handled in one engagement.

Owners who need our Surrey bookkeeping page and getting the Surrey returns filed as well will find it on the same terms.