Expert Tax Accountants in Coquitlam

Sales tax in British Columbia totals 12% for 2026: the 5% federal GST plus 7% provincial sales tax. BC is not harmonised, so the two run separately, with GST registered and filed with the CRA and PST with the province. A $100 taxable sale carries $5 GST and $7 PST. PST has its own exemptions, including most food for human consumption, so some sales take the 5% GST only.

Alberta is generally the lowest-tax province: it charges no provincial sales tax and its provincial income tax rates sit at or near the bottom of the range. The highest combined personal rates are found in Quebec and the Atlantic provinces. Any comparison depends on more than headline rates, though. Sales tax, property tax, payroll levies, health premiums and the credits you qualify for all move the real burden, so compare your own total rather than the top bracket.

It is an annual British Columbia tax on residential property in designated urban areas that sits empty for most of the year. Every owner of a home in a taxable area must file a declaration each year, even when claiming an exemption, and most owners who live in the property or rent it out long term end up paying nothing. Rates differ for British Columbia residents and foreign owners. Check the province's speculation and vacancy tax pages for the current rate and declaration deadline.

British Columbia sends every registered owner of residential property in a designated taxable area a letter with a declaration code and letter ID. Use those to declare online, or by phone, for each owner on title separately - a spouse cannot declare for both. You state how the home was used during the calendar year and claim an exemption if one fits; most owners are exempt but still must declare. Miss it and the tax is assessed.

Two different things get called an exemption. Exempt supplies, such as most residential rent, many health and dental services and most financial services, carry no GST/HST and the supplier cannot claim input tax credits on related costs. Zero-rated supplies are taxed at 0% and the supplier still recovers input tax credits. Separately, a small supplier with taxable revenue at or under $30,000 for 2026 need not register or charge tax at all.

Most are. CPP, Old Age Security, employer pensions, annuity and RRIF payments and RRSP withdrawals all go into income at your marginal rate. TFSA withdrawals are not taxable and do not affect benefits. OAS is clawed back once net income passes a threshold set each year, so check the current figure on the CRA site. Pension income splitting with a spouse and the pension income credit can cut the total, and tax can be withheld at source.

A zero-rated supply is a sale that is taxable at 0%, so you charge no GST/HST but you can still claim input tax credits on the costs of making it. Common examples include basic groceries, prescription drugs, most medical devices, agricultural and fishing products, and many exports and international freight services. That input tax credit recovery is the practical difference from an exempt supply, where no tax is charged and no credits are available.

Coffee bought ready to drink from a cafe or restaurant is taxable at the GST/HST rate where you buy it, so 5% GST alone in Alberta, 13% HST in Ontario, 14% in Nova Scotia since 1 April 2025. Coffee beans, ground coffee and instant coffee sold in a grocery store are basic groceries and are zero-rated, so no GST/HST applies. Provincial sales tax follows its own food rules.

In Canada there is a single federal return, so a refund comes from the CRA rather than from two agencies. Check progress in CRA My Account, in the CRA's mobile service, or by phoning the individual enquiries line with your details at hand. Expect roughly two weeks for a return filed online, and up to 16 weeks for a non-resident return. A refund can be held if an earlier return is missing, amounts are under review, or you owe another government debt.

There is no age or milestone at which refunds stop. A refund only means more tax was withheld or paid by instalments during the year than the return finally calculates, so it turns on your income mix each year. Retirees often stop seeing refunds because pension, RRIF and investment income tends to be under-withheld, which produces a balance owing instead. You can ask a payer to withhold more, or pay instalments, to change that.

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.

British Columbia charges its own corporate rate on top of the federal rate, so the figure that matters is the federal rate plus the provincial rate for your year end. For 2026 the federal side is 9% on the first $500,000 of active business income for a qualifying Canadian-controlled private corporation and 15% on general income. Confirm the current British Columbia small business and general rates on the CRA and provincial rate tables before relying on a combined number.