BC PST Professional Services: What You Need to Know

BC PST Professional Services changes take effect October 01, 2026 — bookkeeping, accounting, engineering, security, or non-residential property management services will all become taxable for the first time. This creates new responsibilities as a business owner in BC and requires additional management and adjustments in your bookkeeping system — with real consequences if you get it wrong. Starting on that date, providers of these services are required to start charging BC PST on their services. If you sell these services, you’ll need to register for a BC PST number and should enrol in eTaxBC so you can file and pay the tax. If you buy these services, you’re looking at a non-recoverable expense added to your business costs. This blog covers what’s changing and what it costs you. Blogs on registration, self-assessment, and penalties are coming next in this series.

SECTION 01
What’s Actually Changing

In the February 2026 provincial budget, BC announced it’s expanding PST to a group of professional services that have never been taxable under the Provincial Sales Tax Act before. That changes on October 1, 2026.

PST has existed since 1948, and it’s mostly applied to goods rather than services. In Budget 2026, the province explains the expansion by noting that these services “have largely remained untaxed under the PST.” As more of what businesses buy shifts from goods to services, this update brings those services into the tax base for the first time.

This isn’t law yet. It’s a budget proposal that still needs Royal Assent through Bill 2, the Budget Measures Implementation Act, 2026. But the effective date is only a couple of months out, and registration is already open. Waiting to see what happens isn’t really a strategy. If you provide or purchase any of these services, start planning now.

SECTION 02
Which Professional Services Are Affected

Effective October 1, 2026, the proposal applies 7% PST to:

• Accounting services, including bookkeeping and assurance services
• Architectural services — only on 30% of the purchase price
• Engineering and geoscience services — only on 30% of the purchase price
• Non-residential real estate services, including trading services, rental property management, and strata management
• Security services, including private investigation services

Does “security services” mean my IT guy?

This is a valid question in today’s environment and directly affects my company. The answer at the time of writing this blog is no. Based on the Province’s published guidance, the BC Security Services Act sets the definition here. “Security services” means services from a business that holds, or must hold, a security business licence. That covers things like security guard services, armoured car guard services, private investigator services, security alarm services, physical security consulting, and door security at licensed liquor establishments. Cybersecurity does not fall in that definition.

IT services, cybersecurity, network management, and data hosting fall outside the Security Services Act entirely. Based on the definitions published so far, they are not part of this PST expansion. If your business pays a managed IT provider or cybersecurity consultant, the proposed BC PST change will not affect your business for these expenses.

SECTION 03
How BC Compares to Other Provinces

BC isn’t inventing something new — Manitoba and Saskatchewan already tax most of these same professional services, including the exact same 30% rule for architectural and engineering fees. There are exceptions in each province, so it’s not a perfect match, but the direction BC is heading is well established elsewhere.

Why 30% for architectural and engineering fees specifically?

The government hasn’t published a detailed explanation for why the number is 30% rather than some other figure. What we do know is that BC isn’t picking this number out of thin air — it’s the same 30% rule Manitoba and Saskatchewan already use for the exact same services. BC’s approach appears to follow an existing multi-province convention rather than introducing a new one. Accounting, security, and real estate services don’t get this partial exemption; only architectural, engineering, and geoscience services do.

SECTION 04
If You’re the One Offering These Services

This section is for you if you sell bookkeeping, accounting, architectural, engineering, security, or non-residential property management services in BC. Registration, invoicing, exemptions, self-assessment, and the province’s small commission are outlined here.

Do I need to register, and what does “very low threshold” actually mean?

Unlike GST/HST’s $30,000 small supplier threshold, BC PST’s threshold is extremely small — just $10,000 in gross revenue from eligible sales in a rolling 12-month period. And even that only applies if you don’t maintain an established business premises. If you operate from an established place of business, the obligation to register exists the moment you make a taxable sale, regardless of how much revenue you bring in.

Most bookkeeping, accounting, engineering, security, and property management businesses operate from an established office, and even a home office generally counts for this purpose. That means most professional service providers will not qualify for the small seller exemption — not because of their revenue, but because of where they operate from. A business with established premises and only $500 in sales still doesn’t qualify.

You’ve been able to register up to six months ahead of your first taxable sale — for services starting October 1, 2026, that means registration opened April 1, 2026. There’s genuine disagreement among accountants on timing, though. Some recommend registering early so you’re fully set up well before the October 1 start date. Others suggest waiting, since the regulations and exemption details aren’t finalized yet, and registering early can mean extra filing obligations before you’re even collecting anything. Talk to your bookkeeper or accountant about which approach fits your situation.

What do I need to change in my invoicing and systems?

Your accounting software and point-of-sale system need to charge PST correctly on these services. If you bill a mix of taxable and non-taxable goods or services on the same invoice, you need to assess each line separately. Staff need to know it’s coming so they’re not caught off guard by client questions in October 2026. Your products and services in your software system should be updated with the new tax codes so it appears automatically on your invoices and you don’t miss any manual changes.

Are there any exemptions, including for “purchases for resale”?

The specific exemptions for these newly taxable services aren’t fully known yet. But two exemptions already exist under current PST rules and are likely to carry over: sales to certain First Nations purchasers, and purchases for resale.

“Purchases for resale” means you buy something specifically to resell it to a customer, rather than to use or consume it yourself. In that case, you can generally buy it without paying PST at that point, using a PST number and an exemption certificate. The PST then gets charged once, to the final customer who actually uses the item. This exemption exists mainly for goods held as inventory. It has narrower relevance to the newly taxable professional services in this update. Most businesses buying bookkeeping, accounting, engineering, or security services are the end user of those services, not reselling them — so this exemption generally won’t apply to those purchases. It’s still worth understanding, because it explains why the province allows PST-free purchasing in some situations and not others.

What about subcontracted work — does PST get charged twice?

This is a genuinely open question for BC right now, and a good one to ask. Say you subcontract part of a bookkeeping engagement to another bookkeeper, then bill your own client for the full job. Does your subcontractor charge you PST, which you then absorb and charge again to your client on your own invoice — PST charged on PST for the same work?

BC hasn’t confirmed how this works yet. But Manitoba, which BC is closely modeling this expansion on, already has a mechanism for exactly this situation with architects and engineers. A sub-consultant architect providing design services to a main consultant does not charge RST (Manitoba’s version of PST) on their invoice to the main consultant — the main consultant provides their RST number to purchase the services exempt from RST, then charges RST once, on their full invoice to the final client, covering both their own work and the subcontracted portion.

If BC adopts a similar approach, subcontractor bookkeepers likely won’t have to charge PST to the bookkeeper who hired them — the PST would only apply once, on the final invoice to the client. We can only assume this based on Manitoba’s precedent; it isn’t confirmed for BC yet.

What happens if my supplier doesn’t charge me PST?

If a supplier should have charged you PST on an invoice for services to your company and didn’t, the obligation to self-assess and remit that PST falls on you — the purchaser of the services. This applies whether the missed PST was an honest mistake or because the supplier wasn’t registered at all.

This issue comes up most often with out-of-province suppliers of professional services. For example, if a BC business hires an Ontario accounting firm to prepare their tax return and the Ontario accounting firm does not charge the BC company PST, the PST doesn’t disappear. The BC business receiving the service must self-assess that amount and remit it directly to the province. The reason is that no province can force another business in another province to collect and remit its sales tax on its behalf. Some companies as a courtesy to their clients will charge, file and remit for them but they are not obligated to do that.

Self-assessment is its own topic with its own set of rules, forms, and deadlines, and it deserves its own blog. As part of this BC PST series, we’re publishing a dedicated blog specifically on how self-assessment works, step by step. For now, the key point is this: if your supplier doesn’t charge you PST, that doesn’t mean you’re off the hook for it.

Is there any offset for collecting PST, similar to GST/HST

If you’re newly required to register and collect PST, there’s one small “benefit” worth knowing about. BC pays registered businesses a small commission on the amount collected for the administrative burden of charging, collecting and remitting the PST on behalf of the province.

Here’s how the current PST return worksheet calculates the commission, assuming this structure continues once the professional services expansion takes effect:

• If the PST you collected in the period is $22.00 or less, your commission is the full amount collected
• If it’s between $22.01 and roughly $3,000, your commission is 6.6% of the PST collected
• Once your commission would exceed $198, it’s capped there. $198 is the maximum commission per reporting period, regardless of how much PST you collect

How do I register for BC PST on eTaxBC?

If you’ll be selling any of the newly taxable services on or after October 1, 2026, here’s the general process. Start with the province’s own registration guide, which walks through exactly what you need to do: Register to collect PST.

• Go to eTaxBC and choose to register a new business for PST (you don’t need an existing eTaxBC login to start a registration)
• Have your Business Number (BN), legal business name, business address, and a description of your business activities ready
• Provide the date of your first anticipated taxable sale — for most businesses affected by this change, that’s October 1, 2026, or later
• Submit your application; once approved, you’ll receive your PST number and a letter confirming your assigned reporting period (monthly, quarterly, semi-annual, or annual, based on how much PST you expect to collect)

Other ways to register

You can also register by paper form (FIN 418) or in person at a Service BC Centre. Online through eTaxBC is the fastest option. Remember: you can register up to six months before your first taxable sale — that window opened April 1, 2026. But registering late doesn’t buy you time. Not being registered doesn’t mean you’re off the hook for charging, collecting, filing, and remitting PST once you’re required to — the obligation exists from your first taxable sale whether you’ve registered for it or not. If you’re not registered and not filing on time as a result, you’re exposed to penalties and interest on the PST you should have collected and remitted, the same as any other late filer.

SECTION 05
If You’re the One Purchasing These Services

This section is for you if your business buys bookkeeping, accounting, engineering, security, or non-residential property management services in BC. This change affects you very differently than it affects the businesses selling these services.

Why isn’t BC PST treated the same as GST/HST?

It’s tempting to assume the only difference is that GST/HST is federal and PST is provincial. It isn’t. On the surface, both look like the same kind of thing: a percentage for sales tax added onto your invoice. What actually costs you money is what happens to that percentage (additional money) after you pay it — and that’s where the two sales tax systems part ways completely.

Think about the last time you bought a case of paper at Staples. The GST/HST on that purchase gets broken out separately — and if you’re GST/HST registered, you get that money back as an input tax credit (ITC) when you file your return. It passes through your business; it doesn’t stay with you. (We cover exactly how that works in our guide to how GST/HST ITCs work.) The PST on that same purchase works completely differently: it’s just added into the total cost of the paper. There’s no mechanism to claim it back, ever. It becomes part of your cost, permanently — the PST charged on professional services will behave in the same way as it does for our paper example.

What that means in practice

Example: your business currently pays $1,000 a month for bookkeeping services, plus GST. Starting October 1, 2026, expect a new sales tax on that invoice. But, unlike the recoverable GST/HST portion, you can’t recover the PST portion. Here’s the distinction that actually matters, though: the cash going out the door and the cost to your business are two different things.

Before October 1, 2026

After October 1, 2026

The cash outflow jumps from $1,050 to $1,120. The $50 in GST/HST you paid will reduce the amount of GST/HST you pay the government when you file your next GST/HST return. That is what we mean when we say it flows through the company. PST does not work the same way. Nothing is just flowing through the company. It is a direct increase in your cost for the service. See how the net cost increases to your company: $1,000 to $1,070. The entire increase is the PST, dollar for dollar, and it’s a direct increase to your cost of the same service.

The bottom line for your budget

This is a direct increase to your bottom line and cost of doing business — not a filing detail. GST/HST is generally recoverable through ITCs. PST is not. The PST you pay to your bookkeeper, accountant, engineer, or security company is a direct increase to your total operating costs. For some businesses, especially those with thin margins or heavy reliance on these services, that may mean adjusting your own pricing to your customers. Run the numbers on what this will actually cost your business annually so you can adjust your pricing the same way you would for increased software or other legit business expenses.

SECTION 06
Setting Up BC PST in QuickBooks Online

I’ve been getting a lot of questions from clients on exactly this, so here’s the short version.

If You Sell These Services

1. Set up the new tax agency for BC PST, if you don’t already have it in place.
2. Update your products and services list so each affected service uses the dual tax code — charging both GST/HST and BC PST on sales. This ensures the correct amounts are recorded on the invoice so your clients pay the right amount, and makes sure it gets recorded properly in your bookkeeping records so you can track it.
3. With that combined tax code in place, your invoices will auto-populate with the correct sales tax going forward — you won’t have to manually update the tax code to record both taxes every time you create an invoice. You won’t risk forgetting to charge it and having to go back to your client afterward to collect it. And if you don’t charge your customer, you’re still responsible for it — you’ll still have to pay it. Also make sure your inclusive/exclusive tax setting is set the way you want, or you’ll calculate the entire invoice incorrectly.

If You Buy These Services

You don’t need to do anything. This isn’t unique to QuickBooks Online — any accounting software following CRA’s Detailed Method has to handle PST paid on purchases the same way, since that’s a CRA calculation requirement, not a software feature.

• If your sales tax module is already turned on in QBO to track GST/HST, it’s already set up to account for BC PST paid on purchases. Why? Because the software needs to take PST paid on purchases into account when a business owner is required to use the Detailed Method for calculating the company’s GST/HST.
• If you’re not a GST/HST registrant, or you’re using the GST/HST Simplified Method, the tax code used in your system does not matter. Why? The additional amount you pay from the PST is simply treated as part of the expense and recorded that way in your books. There’s no need to separate it out — nothing about the transaction needs to be separated or tracked.

SECTION 07
What to Do Now

If You Sell These Services

• Register for PST if you haven’t already — the window opened April 1, 2026. Registering late doesn’t lock you out, but the obligation to charge, collect, and remit starts from your first taxable sale whether you’re registered or not, so waiting just means catching up later.
• Review your invoicing and accounting software now so it’s ready to charge PST correctly, including the 30% rule where it applies.

If You Buy These Services

• Ask your suppliers now whether they’ll be charging PST as of October 1 so there are no surprises — and so you’re not stuck self-assessing later.
• Model the actual annual cost impact on your business, and decide now whether your own pricing needs to adjust.

• Keep an eye on this blog — it’ll be updated as we learn more. Also check the BC PST website directly for the legal wording, since interpretations may differ until the regulations are finalized.

This proposal isn’t law yet, and details on exemptions are still to come. But with an October 1, 2026 effective date, there isn’t a lot of time left to get ready. If you’re not sure whether this applies to your business, or want help updating your invoicing, registering for PST, or figuring out what this actually costs you, that’s exactly the kind of thing I help clients work through — reach out and we’ll figure it out together. For questions specific to your tax situation, your accountant or a tax professional is the right call; I don’t provide tax advice.

For the official source on this change, see the Province of BC’s Notice 2026-001: Notice to providers of professional services, and the BC PST homepage for ongoing updates.