If you send invoices for accounting, engineering, architecture, security or commercial property management in BC, October 1, 2026 is the day your invoices change. From that date, those services stop being PST free. You add 7% PST on top of the GST you already charge, you need a PST number before your first taxable invoice, and you have to know the transitional rules so you do not tax work that was already paid for.
And if you are on the buying side, the short version is this: your accounting and bookkeeping bill goes up by 7%, your engineering bill goes up by about 2.1%, and unlike GST, you cannot claim any of it back. It is a real cost, not a cash flow item.
Below is exactly who is affected, what stays exempt, how the transitional rules work, and what to do before the deadline.
We offer a comprehensive range of Tax Accountant services in Coquitlam and across other regions of British Columbia.
On this page
- Quick Answer: Who Has to Start Charging 7% PST
- Which Professional Services Became Taxable
- Which Services Are Still PST Exempt
- Do Firms Outside BC Have to Register? Yes, and Here Is When
- How to Register Before the Deadline
- How Your Invoices Must Change
- PST Plus GST Together: Are Your Clients Now Paying 12%?
- If You Buy These Services: Why This Cost Is Permanent
- What to Do Before October 1: A 6 Point Checklist
- Penalties If You Get It Wrong
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Need Help Getting PST Ready?
Quick Answer: Who Has to Start Charging 7% PST
You must register and start charging PST if you sell any of these in BC on or after October 1, 2026:
| Service | PST applies to | Effective rate on your fee |
| Accounting, bookkeeping, payroll preparation, tax returns, assurance | Full fee | 7% |
| Architectural services | 30% of the fee | 2.1% |
| Engineering and geoscience services | 30% of the fee | 2.1% |
| Security services (guards, alarms, private investigation, security consulting, armoured car) | Full fee | 7% |
| Non residential real estate services (commissions, rental property management, strata management) | Full fee | 7% |
Two things people get wrong right away. First, legal services are not new to this list: lawyers have been charging 7% PST in BC for years. Second, this is not only a BC firm problem. A firm in Toronto or Calgary billing a BC client for BC related work is caught by the same rules.
Which Professional Services Became Taxable
Accounting, Bookkeeping, Tax and Assurance: 7% on the Full Fee
This is the broadest category and it covers far more than “doing the books”. Taxable accounting services include preparing accounting records and financial statements, journal entries, budgets, invoices and billing, account reconciliation, payroll preparation, bookkeeping, audits and other assurance work, cost, financial, forensic, management and tax accounting, and advice or representation on tax matters including property tax grant issues.
Two useful carve outs: work done by an employee for their own employer is not a taxable sale, and in person training or professional development is not caught.
Architectural, Engineering and Geoscience: 7% on 30% of the Fee
The province deliberately softened this one so construction projects would not get hammered by tax stacking. PST applies to 7% of only 30% of the purchase price, which works out to 2.1% of the total fee. On a $100,000 engineering contract that is $2,100 of PST.
It applies where the work is inside the scope of professional practice and the provider is registered, or required to be registered, with Engineers and Geoscientists BC or the Architectural Institute of BC. Think schematic design, design development, contract documents and tender services.
Plenty of adjacent work stays exempt, including:
- Advisory services
- Construction related and resident engineering services
- Project management and construction management
- Design of tangible personal property intended for retail sale
- Anything relating to a project located outside BC
Security, Private Investigation, Rental Property and Strata Management
Security services are taxable at the full 7%: security guards, armoured car guard service, security alarm service, security consultants and private investigators. Installing, repairing or maintaining an alarm system stays exempt (the monitoring is the taxable part), and live in house sitting at a private residence is exempt.
On the real estate side, the split that matters is residential versus non residential. Trading services, rental property management and strata management for non residential property are taxable. Managing residential property or a residential strata by a licensee under the Real Estate Services Act is exempt.
Which Services Are Still PST Exempt
Nothing else got added. Marketing, IT, management consulting, HR, financial planning, medical and dental services and the rest of the professional services world are untouched by this change.
Beyond that, there is a long list of exemptions inside the new categories. The ones most likely to apply to you:
| Exemption | What it covers |
| Out of BC work | Services relating to property, projects or activities outside BC |
| Resale | You buy the service purely to resell it to your client (give the seller your PST number or an exemption certificate) |
| Estates and insolvency | Work performed as trustee, executor, administrator, liquidator, receiver or trustee in bankruptcy |
| Residential real estate | Property and strata management for residential property |
| Related corporations | Services provided by employees of a related corporation |
| First Nations | Services performed on First Nations land, or relating to First Nations property and activities, for individuals and bands |
| Federal government and diplomats | Purchases by the Government of Canada or by holders of a valid diplomatic identity card |
| Small sellers | Purchases from a qualifying small seller |
Careful with that last one. A small seller has $10,000 or less in gross revenue from taxable sales over the past 12 months and the next 12, and does not operate from established commercial premises (other than occasional sales fewer than four times a year). A working from home bookkeeper under $10,000 may qualify. A firm with an office does not.
Do Firms Outside BC Have to Register? Yes, and Here Is When
The test is not where your office is. It is whether the service relates to BC.
- If you are outside BC and you provide taxable professional services that relate to BC property, a BC presence, BC activities or a business venture contemplated in BC, you register and charge PST.
- If you are in BC and you provide services to a non resident client, you still charge PST when the work relates to BC property or BC activities.
- If the engagement covers both BC and elsewhere, your client can claim exemption on the out of BC portion by giving you a reasonable allocation estimate. Keep that estimate on file.
- If you are the BC buyer and your out of province provider does not charge PST on BC related work, you have to self assess. Registered businesses report it on the PST return; everyone else files a Casual Remittance Return (form FIN 405) by the end of the following month.
That self assessment obligation is the one that quietly catches BC companies using a national or US based firm. It is your liability, not theirs.
How to Register Before the Deadline
Registration has been open since April 1, 2026, because BC lets you register up to six months before your first taxable sale. Do not leave it to late September.
- Confirm you actually have a taxable service and no exemption applies to your main revenue lines.
- Gather your federal business number, government issued ID, incorporation documents, last year’s sales figures and your estimated monthly taxable sales.
- Register online through eTaxBC. The form takes roughly 15 to 25 minutes.
- Allow up to 21 business days for processing, longer if your documents are incomplete.
- Update your invoice templates, engagement letters and accounting software tax codes before October 1.
How Your Invoices Must Change
PST has to be shown separately. Both taxes are calculated on the fee itself, so there is no tax on tax.
Here is what a $2,000 accounting invoice looks like on either side of the date:
| Line | Before Oct 1, 2026 | On or after Oct 1, 2026 |
| Professional fees | $2,000.00 | $2,000.00 |
| GST 5% | $100.00 | $100.00 |
| PST 7% | n/a | $140.00 |
| Total | $2,100.00 | $2,240.00 |
A few billing details worth setting up correctly now:
- Disbursements are generally part of the taxable amount. Travel, food and accommodation billed at actual cost are excluded, but the moment you mark them up, the markup is taxable.
- Charges that simply recover actual transmission, printing or copying costs are excluded.
- If you bundle a taxable service with an exempt one for a single price, BC’s bundled sales rules decide the outcome, and they rarely go in your favour. Bill them as separate lines.
PST Plus GST Together: Are Your Clients Now Paying 12%?
On accounting, bookkeeping, security and non residential property management fees, yes. 5% GST plus 7% PST equals 12% on top of the fee.
On engineering and architectural fees it is 5% GST plus 2.1% effective PST, so about 7.1%.
If You Buy These Services: Why This Cost Is Permanent
This is the part that catches business owners off guard. GST is recoverable: you claim an input tax credit and it washes out. PST is not. There is no input tax credit mechanism, so 7% on your bookkeeping, payroll and audit fees lands straight on your income statement and stays there.
For a company paying $18,000 a year in accounting and bookkeeping, that is roughly $1,260 of new, unrecoverable cost per year. Which is a decent argument for making sure the work you are paying for is efficient, correctly scoped, and not duplicated between your bookkeeper and your accountant.
If you want a straight answer on whether your current setup is costing more than it needs to, that is exactly the kind of review our team at MaxPro Financials does. We handle bookkeeping, payroll, corporate year ends and PST and GST compliance for BC businesses, and we can tell you in one conversation whether your service mix and billing structure still make sense under the new rules. And yes, in the interest of full disclosure, our fees are now taxable too.
What to Do Before October 1: A 6 Point Checklist
- Classify your revenue. Split it into taxable, exempt and out of BC before you touch anything else.
- Register through eTaxBC now, not in late September, and allow for 21 business days.
- Update invoice templates and software tax codes, and add a separate PST line.
- Review engagement letters. If your fees are quoted as “inclusive of taxes”, you are about to absorb 7% yourself. Fix the wording.
- Set up a client exemption file. Collect PST numbers for resale claims and written allocation estimates for multi jurisdiction work.
- Tell your clients before the first taxable invoice arrives. A short email in September prevents a month of awkward phone calls in October.
Penalties If You Get It Wrong
Not registering or not charging is not a neutral position. BC assesses the tax you should have collected against you, whether or not you collected it from the client.
| Situation | What it costs |
| Failure to file | 5% of the unremitted amount plus 1% per month, up to 12 months |
| Repeat failure to file | 10% plus 2% per month, up to 20 months |
| Failure to remit (repeat, or where you knew the obligation) | 10% penalty |
| Failure to collect | A penalty equal to the tax you should have collected, plus loss of your collector commission |
| Wilful false statements or gross negligence | 25% penalty |
Interest is compounded monthly on top. On the upside, collectors who file and pay on time earn a commission of up to $198 per reporting period.
Frequently Asked Questions
Work was billed before October 1 but paid after. Is it taxable?
It depends on when the payment was due, not when you did the work. If consideration was paid or became due before October 1 and the services finish before December 1, 2026, no PST. If the same engagement runs on or past December 1, PST applies to the portion of services provided from October 1 onward.
I did the work in September and invoiced on October 1. PST or no PST?
PST applies. The trigger is the date the consideration becomes due, so September work billed in October is taxable.
Do I charge PST to clients located outside BC?
Only if the service relates to BC property, a BC presence, BC activities or a BC venture the client is contemplating. Purely out of province work is exempt, but document why.
Do I need a separate PST number if I already have a GST number?
Yes. They are completely separate systems. GST is federal and your BN based RT account; PST is provincial and registered through eTaxBC.
How often do I have to file PST returns?
BC assigns your reporting period based on how much PST you collect annually: more than $12,000 is monthly, $6,001 to $12,000 is monthly or quarterly, $3,001 to $6,000 is quarterly or semi annual, and $3,000 or less can be quarterly, semi annual or annual. Returns and payment are due by the last day of the month following the period.
Can I claim back the PST I pay on my own business expenses?
No. There is no equivalent of an input tax credit. The only relief is buying a service purely for resale, or having an exemption apply.
My engineering firm also does project management. Is all of it taxed at 2.1%?
No. Project management, construction management, resident engineering and advisory services are exempt. Only the professional engineering and geoscience work is taxable, at 7% of 30% of the fee. Bill the categories separately.
I manage both residential and commercial buildings. What changes?
Only the non residential side becomes taxable. Residential property management and residential strata management stay exempt, so split those fees on your invoices from day one.
What if I have already been charging PST incorrectly since October?
Fix it early. If you over collected, refund or credit the client and correct the return. If you under collected, you can still bill the client for the tax, and you are far better off correcting it yourself than having an auditor find it two years later with penalties and compounded interest attached.
Does the small seller rule get me out of registering?
Rarely. You need $10,000 or less in gross taxable revenue and no established commercial premises. Most firms with an office or a storefront are out.
Need Help Getting PST Ready?
If you are still not sure which of your revenue lines are taxable, whether your out of province clients need PST charged, or how to fix engagement letters that quote fees “including all taxes”, that is a one meeting problem, not a three month one.
MaxPro Financials works with BC business owners on exactly this: PST and GST registration, invoice and system setup, bookkeeping and payroll, and year end compliance that holds up if the province ever comes looking. Book a consultation with our team and we will walk through your billing, tell you what needs to change before October 1, and set it up for you if you would rather not touch it yourself.