Provincial sales tax is a separate retail tax charged in British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Manitoba on top of GST, filed with the province and generally not recoverable.
In the non-harmonised provinces, British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, a separate provincial sales tax applies on top of the 5% federal GST. Unlike GST/HST, PST is a retail-level tax filed with the province, not the CRA, and it is generally not recoverable as an input tax credit, making it a real cost in the supply chain.
PST rules differ by province, including what is taxable, some services taxed under PST are exempt from GST, so businesses operating in these provinces must track two separate systems. Quebec runs its own QST (administered with GST by Revenu Quebec), and Alberta has no provincial sales tax at all.
A BC retailer charges 5% GST plus 7% PST on a sale. The GST is netted against input tax credits and remitted to the CRA; the PST is filed separately with the province and cannot be recovered.
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