Written by Stephen Beard, Managing Director of Plyo Bookkeeping, a Vancouver-based bookkeeping firm – updated November 2024.

In Canada, the Provincial Sales Tax (PST) is a consumption tax levied by individual provinces. Each province has its own rules and rates for PST, making it essential for businesses to understand how PST works in their specific location. In this guide, we’ll provide an overview of PST, including the registration threshold for each province.

What is Provincial Sales Tax (PST)?

PST is a retail sales tax imposed on the sale or rental of taxable goods and certain services within a province or territory. The tax generally applies to goods, with most services exempt. However, the tax rules can vary significantly from one province to another, so it’s always essential to check whether your product or service is required to charge PST.

Which Provinces Don’t charge PST?

In certain provinces, the GST and PST have merged to form the HST (Harmonized Sales Tax). HST registration occurs automatically when you register for GST, meaning that there is no PST tax or registration for these provinces. HST provinces are:

• Ontario
• New Brunswick
• Newfoundland and Labrador
• Nova Scotia
• Prince Edward Island

PST Registration Thresholds by Province

To determine if your business needs to register for Provincial Sales Tax (PST) in a specific province, you should be aware of the registration thresholds. If your business’s annual taxable sales or revenues in a specific province exceed the threshold, you are required to register and collect PST. Below are the current registration thresholds for each province (updated November 2024):

1. British Columbia (BC): CAD 10,000
2. Alberta: Alberta does not have a provincial sales tax.
3. Saskatchewan: There is no threshold, all businesses are required to register for PST in order to operate in Saskatchewan
4. Manitoba: CAD 30,000. For ecommerce sellers based outside of Manitoba, the threshold is effectively nil due to additional stipulations
5. Quebec: Quebec has the Quebec Sales Tax (QST) and it also administers the Goods and Services Tax (GST) separately from the rest of Canada. If you are a Quebec based business then you’ll need to register for QST and GST when you hit $30k of sales. If your business is based outside of Quebec, then you’ll need to register for QST when you reach the $30k threshold of sales in Quebec over a 12 month period. You will also need to register with Revenue Quebec for GST, even if your already registered for GST federally. Here’s a link to some useful guidance on registering for QST as a non-Quebec-based business.

Out-of-Province Sales – What Rate to Charge

As a general rule of thumb, which provincial PST rate you charge is determined by the CRA’s ‘place of supply’ rules. If the sale is made from a physical store in your home province, then the place of supply will be deemed to be your home province. However, if you ship the goods to your customers province, then the rate of PST and GST/HST charged will be that of your customers home province.

If you ship a product to a province that is not your customer’s home province, for example your business is based in BC, and you ship a product to Alberta to be picked up by a customer based in Saskatchewan, then the relevant province for determining the PST/GST/HST rate would be Alberta, the province where the goods were shipped to.

If your business is based in BC, and an Albertan business enters BC to purchase or pick up your product, then the province of supply would be BC. However, if you’re a BC business and you ship your goods to an Albertan-based customer, then Alberta would be the place of supply and no PST would be chargeable (as Alberta does not charge PST)

PST for E-Commerce Companies

PST registration is especially complex for e-commerce businesses which are shipping goods across Canada. Smaller online stores may not need to register for both Saskatchewan PST and Manitoba RST (RST is effectively the same as PST) if they plan to offer shipping and delivery to customers in these provinces.

British Columbia ($10k threshold) and Quebec ($30k threshold) have active registration threshold for PST. This means that if your sales over a 12 month period to one of these provinces doesn’t exceed the relevant threshold, then you don’t need to register or charge PST or QST. The disadvantage is that you need to monitor your sales on a regular basis to see if you have gone over these thresholds.

How to Register for PST in Each Province

The process for registering for PST can vary from province to province. Most provinces now provide an online registration option. It’s advisable to visit the official government websites of the respective provinces and territories or consult with a tax professional for the most up-to-date and accurate information on PST registration in your area.

Understanding and complying with PST requirements is crucial for Canadian businesses, as failure to do so can result in penalties and fines. Be sure to keep accurate records and stay informed about any changes in tax deadlines or regulations that may affect your business.