Expert Tax Accountants in Abbotsford

For personal income tax, your account number is your social insurance number. For a business it is the nine-digit business number plus the two-letter program identifier and four-digit reference, so corporation tax, GST/HST and payroll each have their own account. Select the matching payment type and the correct tax year or period as well: a payment posted to the wrong program or year leaves the balance you meant to clear still outstanding and still accruing interest.

Both, blended into one tax. HST combines the 5% federal GST with a provincial component, and the CRA administers and collects the whole amount, so a business files a single return. Rates for 2026 are Ontario 13%; New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island 15%; and Nova Scotia 14%, down from 15% on 1 April 2025. Provinces outside the harmonized group charge GST plus a separate provincial sales tax, or GST alone.

Basic groceries are zero-rated, so no GST is charged on staples such as bread, milk, vegetables and meat, and British Columbia's provincial sales tax does not apply to food for human consumption. Prepared food is treated differently: a restaurant meal carries GST at the federal rate. Sweetened carbonated drinks attract provincial sales tax in British Columbia, and liquor is taxed under its own rules. Snack foods sold in single servings can also fall outside the grocery treatment.

Your purchase price does not set your property tax directly, but it becomes part of the sales evidence assessment authorities use to value comparable homes, so paying well above market can pull your assessment up at the next valuation. A private appraisal done for a mortgage or refinancing is not shared with the assessor and changes nothing on its own. The assessed value on your notice, times the municipal rate, is what drives the bill.

Taxable profit is accounting profit adjusted to the rules in the tax law. Start from net income in the financial statements, add back amounts that are not deductible, such as accounting depreciation, reserves and the non-deductible portion of meals and entertainment, then deduct tax-specific claims such as capital cost allowance and losses carried forward. The result is the figure the rates apply to: for 2026, 9% federally on the first $500,000 of active business income for a small corporation.

British Columbia PST is 7% (2025 and 2026) and applies to most goods, to software, and to a defined list of services including legal services, telecommunications, accommodation, and repairs or maintenance of taxable goods. Groceries, most services, children's clothing and residential rent fall outside it. Vehicles, boats and aircraft follow their own rules. PST is not a value-added tax, so there are no input credits to recover it; check the province's PST bulletins for your item.

Basic groceries are zero-rated across Canada, so no GST is charged on them. Restaurant meals and other prepared food are taxable and carry GST. British Columbia does not apply its provincial sales tax to food for human consumption, so a restaurant bill normally shows GST only, while alcohol and sweetened carbonated drinks are taxed under separate provincial rules. Snack foods, candy, catering and heated takeaway follow the taxable side of the grocery rules.

Yes. GST at 5% applies to taxi and ride-share fares in British Columbia, and BC PST does not apply to the fare itself. Taxi and commercial ride-sharing operators cannot use the $30,000 small-supplier threshold for 2026, so they must register and charge GST from their first fare however small the business. The tax is usually built into the metered or app-quoted price rather than added at the end of the trip.

Accommodation is taxable, so GST/HST applies at the rate of the province where the room is: 5% GST alone in Alberta and the territories, 13% HST in Ontario, 15% in New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island, and 14% in Nova Scotia for 2026. Provinces with their own sales tax, and many cities, add accommodation or destination levies on separate lines. Tax on business travel may be recoverable as an input tax credit.

You collect it as an agent, so it never belongs to your business. You remit it to the CRA with your GST/HST return, after subtracting input tax credits for tax you paid on business purchases. The CRA keeps the federal part, the 5% GST, and transfers the provincial part to the harmonised province. Quebec is different: Revenu Quebec administers GST and QST there. Because it is money held for someone else, keep it out of operating cash.

No. Care for your own children is a personal cost, so it cannot be deducted on a business statement or through a corporation, even if you work from home or the care is what lets you take on more work. Claim it instead as a child care expense deduction on the personal return of the lower-income spouse. If a corporation pays the bill, the amount is normally treated as a taxable benefit to the employee or shareholder.

Yes. Your return asks for your spouse or common-law partner's name, social insurance number and net income, even when that income is nil and even when they file a return of their own. The CRA uses the combined figure to calculate income-tested credits and benefits and to check claims such as the spouse or common-law partner amount. Their income is not added to yours as taxable income; it is disclosed on the identification page only.