Section 1
Purchaser
See Also
British Columbia v. Burlington Resources Canada Ltd., 2015 BCCA 19
BJ Services Company Canada ("BJ Services") provided well cementing and well stimulation services to the respondent. BJ Services placed cement in...
Edenvale Restoration Specialists Ltd. v. The Queen, 2013 BCCA 85
The respondent ("Edenvale"), which was registered under the Social Service Tax Act (B.C.), sold tangible personal property to an Ontario limited...
Seven Mile Dam Contractors v. The Queen in Right of British Columbia (1980), 116 DLR (3d) 398, 1980 CanLII 451 (BCCA)
A partnership ("P1") sold equipment to another partnership ("P2"). The two partners of P1 had partnership interests totalling 50% in P2. Before...
| Locations of other summaries | Wordcount | |
|---|---|---|
| Tax Topics - General Concepts - Ownership | 78 | |
| Tax Topics - Income Tax Act - Section 248 - Subsection 248(1) - Person | 40 | |
| Tax Topics - Income Tax Act - Section 85 - Subsection 85(1.1) | partner has a proportionate interest in the partnership property | 100 |
| Tax Topics - Statutory Interpretation - Prior Cases | 77 | |
| Tax Topics - Statutory Interpretation - Provincial Law | 60 |
Administrative Policy
Bulletin PST 208, Goods for Resale, April 2016
Goods for resale/no Certificate if registered
You are exempt from PST on goods you obtain solely for resale or lease to your customers. To...
| Locations of other summaries | Wordcount | |
|---|---|---|
| Tax Topics - Other Legislation/Constitution - British Columbia - Provincial Sales Tax Act - Section 141 - Subsection 141(1) - Paragraph 141(1)(c) | 64 |
Articles
Robert G. Kreklewetz, Bryan Horrigan, "British Columbia Provincial Sales Tax and Oilfield Services", Sales and Use Tax (Federated Press), Vol. XIII, No. 1, 2015, p. 662.
The two decisions reviewed [Burlington and Husky Oil Operations Ltd. v. The Queen, 2014 SKQB 116]…can be reconciled on the basis of the...
Related Service
Cases
British Columbia v. GFL Environmental Inc., 2024 BCCA 379
The taxpayer (GFL), for a monthly charge, provided portable toilets, cleaned them and disposed of the waste. The director under the Provincial...
| Locations of other summaries | Wordcount | |
|---|---|---|
| Tax Topics - Other Legislation/Constitution - British Columbia - Provincial Sales Tax Act - Section 13 - Subsection 13(1) | lease of portable toilet and related cleaning service, was appropriately unbundled from the single consideration from the non-taxable waste disposal service | 169 |
| Tax Topics - General Concepts - Onus | assumptions: should be struck where there is insufficient evidence of their making; but they can contain statements of law | 423 |
Software
Cases
Hootsuite Inc. v British Columbia (Finance), 2023 BCSC 358
The Petitioner (“Hootsuite”), which provided its customers with an online social media management system, did not itself have the servers and...
| Locations of other summaries | Wordcount | |
|---|---|---|
| Tax Topics - Other Legislation/Constitution - British Columbia - Provincial Sales Tax Act - Section 1 - Telecommunication Service | telecommunication service was incidental to the non-taxable service of providing technical expertise | 138 |
Tangible Personal Property
Articles
Shane Onufrechuk, Warren Pashkowick, "Tax Considerations of Major Construction Projects", 2014 Conference Report, Canadian Tax Foundation, 10:1-35.
Supplies of real property v. tangible personal property (p. 10:31)
[R]eal property in British Columbia includes land, buildings and structures,...
Taxable Services
Articles
Shane Onufrechuk, Warren Pashkowick, "Tax Considerations of Major Construction Projects", 2014 Conference Report, Canadian Tax Foundation, 10:1-35.
Exemption for services to install TPP that will become real property (p. 10:31)
Taxable services include any service provided to install,...
Telecommunication Service
Cases
Hootsuite Inc. v British Columbia (Finance), 2023 BCSC 358
Hootsuite, which provided its customers with an online social media management system, did not itself have the servers and storage facilities to...
| Locations of other summaries | Wordcount | |
|---|---|---|
| Tax Topics - Other Legislation/Constitution - British Columbia - Provincial Sales Tax Act - Section 1 - Software | definition requires the user to be able to interact with a software program | 730 |
Administrative Policy
Bulletin PST 107 “Telecommunication Services” August 2014
B.C. situs
For a telecommunication service to be subject to PST in BC, the service must be utilized by means of an electronic device that is...
Vendor
Section 13
Subsection 13(1)
Cases
British Columbia v. GFL Environmental Inc., 2024 BCCA 379
The taxpayer (GFL), for a monthly charge, provided portable toilets, cleaned them and disposed of the waste. The director under the Provincial...
| Locations of other summaries | Wordcount | |
|---|---|---|
| Tax Topics - Other Legislation/Constitution - British Columbia - Provincial Sales Tax Act - Section 1 - Related Service | monthly single consideration for portable toilets was appropriately “unbundled” between the non-taxable disposal service, and the taxable cleaning and rental component | 238 |
| Tax Topics - General Concepts - Onus | assumptions: should be struck where there is insufficient evidence of their making; but they can contain statements of law | 423 |
See Also
NTN Canada, Inc. v. British Columbia (Finance), 2014 BCSC 2022
The taxpayer provided its customers with a variety of products and services for which it charged a lump-sum monthly service fee, although the...
Subsection 26(3)
Commentary
Ss. 26(2) and (3) of the Provincial Sales Tax Act (B.C.) (the "PSTA") provide that where a "non-taxable component" such as real estate is sold...
Administrative Policy
Bulletin PST 315 Rentals and Leases of Goods September 2021
Exception for incidental supply of goods as part of short-term real estate licence or incidental to services supply
Incidental Goods
You do not...
Bulletin PST 316 "Bundled Sales and Leases"
Exception for incidental supplies of goods
You are not selling goods if you provide goods, software or telecommunication services that are merely...
Subsection 37(1)
Administrative Policy
PST 210 "Related Party Asset Transfers" May 2015
Effect of amalgmations
For the purposes of the PST, if assets are transferred from a predecessor corporation(s) to an amalgamated corporation,...
Section 141
Subsection 141(1)
Paragraph 141(1)(c)
Administrative Policy
Bulletin PST 208, Goods for Resale, April 2016
Certificate not required if registered
You are exempt from PST on goods you obtain solely for processing, fabricating, manufacturing, attaching,...
| Locations of other summaries | Wordcount | |
|---|---|---|
| Tax Topics - Other Legislation/Constitution - British Columbia - Provincial Sales Tax Act - Section 1 - Purchaser | 164 |
Subsection 145(1)
Administrative Policy
Bulletin PST 200 "PST Exemptions and Documentation Requirements" April 2016
[T]o claim an exemption on a purchase of goods for resale, the customer must provide the collector with their PST number or, if they do not have...
Section 147
Administrative Policy
Bulletin PST 400 “PST Refunds” 25 October 2018
Refund of overcharge
If you charged your customer PST on the purchase of goods, software or taxable services, or on the lease of goods, and they...
Subsection 179(1)
Commentary
S. 179(1) inter alia requires the collection by a collector of the tax imposed in relation to tangible personal property, software or a taxable...
Administrative Policy
Bulletin PST 005, "Buying and Selling a Business", Issued: November 2014; Revised: April 2015
When buying a business, PST applies to all taxable business assets. If the seller is a collector, the seller must collect and remit PST on the...
| Locations of other summaries | Wordcount | |
|---|---|---|
| Tax Topics - Other Legislation/Constitution - British Columbia - Provincial Sales Tax Act - Subsection 187(2) | clearance certificate | 124 |
Bulletin PST 002 "Charging, Collecting and Remitting PST" February 2014
As a collector, if you sell or lease your new or used taxable business assets in BC, you must collect and remit PST from the purchaser or lessee...
Subsection 187(2)
Administrative Policy
Bulletin PST 005, "Buying and Selling a Business", Issued: November 2014; Revised: April 2015
Before buying a business or buying goods, software or an interest in a business through a bulk transaction, the purchaser should ensure that they...
| Locations of other summaries | Wordcount | |
|---|---|---|
| Tax Topics - Other Legislation/Constitution - British Columbia - Provincial Sales Tax Act - Subsection 179(1) | 117 |
Section 192
Forms
FIN 400 "Provincial Sales Tax Return"
FIN 405 "Casual Remittance Form"
Complete this form if you do not have a registration number and...
Subsection 201(3)
Commentary
S. 201(3) of the PSTA provides that "if a transaction is an avoidance transaction, the director [of taxation] may determine the tax consequences...
Subsection 203(1)
Commentary
Ss. 203(1) and (1.1) of the PSTA generally provide that when a collector (which is defined in s. 1 to include a person who is required to be...
Paragraph 205(c)
Commentary
S. 205(c) generally provides for the imposition of a 10% penalty where the Director is satisfied that a person has failed to levy, remit or pay...
Administrative Policy
Bulletin CTB 005 “Penalties and Interest” July 2011 rev’d January 2016
We will generally apply a 10% penalty on first tax assessments if the facts indicate that you are aware of the obligation but did not charge,...
Provincial Sales Tax Exemption and Refund Regulation
Subsection 151(2)
Administrative Policy
PST 319 "Partnerships" February 2014
For PST purposes, unless a limited partnership agreement provides otherwise in writing, the general partner(s) is considered to own the...
Paragraph 152(3)(a)
Commentary
The relevant requirements for the transfer of equipment or other tangible personal property by a registered vendor (the collector) to the...
Commentary
The Seven Mile Dam case (below) indicates that a general partnership is fiscally transparent so that, for example, if a PST collector sells...