Expert Tax Accountants in Dawson Creek

Canadian income tax is built up in layers. You total your income for the year, subtract the deductions you qualify for to arrive at taxable income, then apply the federal brackets and your province's brackets to that figure. Each bracket rate applies only to the income sitting inside it, so earning more never retaxes the dollars below. Non-refundable credits, starting with the basic personal amount, come off the tax afterwards. Look up the CRA bracket table for the tax year you are filing.

On purchases, British Columbia charges 7% provincial sales tax on top of the 5% federal GST, so 12% combined for 2026. On income, the 2026 federal brackets run 14%, 20.5%, 26%, 29% and 33%, and BC's own brackets stack on top, so your marginal rate is the federal rate plus the provincial rate for that band. BC brackets are indexed yearly, so confirm the current provincial table before relying on a combined percentage.

Divide the tax-included total by one plus the tax rate. In Ontario, divide by 1.13 to get the pre-tax amount; the difference is the 13% HST. Use 1.05 for GST-only provinces, 1.14 in Nova Scotia since 1 April 2025, and 1.15 in New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island. Quebec is different: QST of 9.975% applies to the pre-GST price, so divide by 1.14975 for the combined amount.

In your bank's bill payment screen, search the payee list for the Canada Revenue Agency and pick the entry that matches the debt: personal income tax owing, personal instalments, GST/HST, corporation tax, or payroll source deductions. The account number is your social insurance number for personal tax, or your business number with the correct program identifier for a business account. Paying the wrong payee parks the money in the wrong account while interest runs, so ask the CRA to transfer it.

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.

Yes. Employment insurance benefits are taxable income, including a retroactive lump sum, and the payer withholds some tax before you receive it. Report the amount in the year you received it, using the benefit slip issued for that year, and expect the tax to be trued up on your return. If the retroactive payment covers earlier years and is large, the CRA can apply a special averaging calculation on request.

CRA My Account shows a status for each tax year, so a year marked received, in process or assessed has reached the CRA. A notice of assessment for that year is the other proof. If a preparer filed for you, ask for the confirmation number produced when the return was transmitted. A year with nothing showing at all has not been filed and should be, even if it is late.

12% for 2026. Vancouver charges no city sales tax, so a purchase there carries British Columbia's 7% provincial sales tax on top of the 5% federal GST. Provincial sales tax does not reach everything: many basic groceries and some services fall outside it, so a receipt can show only the 5% GST. Certain supplies are zero-rated or exempt from GST as well, which is why a total can sit below the headline 12%.

Richmond has no municipal empty homes tax of its own, that levy is Vancouver's. Richmond property is instead inside British Columbia's provincial speculation and vacancy tax area, so owners there receive an annual declaration and pay if the home sits empty without an exemption. Rates and exemptions change, so confirm the current year on the province's speculation and vacancy tax pages before you rely on a figure.

The duty to declare does not depend on the letter arriving. If you own residential property in a designated area of British Columbia and no declaration package reached you, contact the provincial speculation and vacancy tax office, get your identification numbers and declare before the annual deadline. Missing the declaration has you assessed at the highest rate for your situation, which you then have to unwind. Update your mailing address and keep proof of the declaration.

Register for a business number with the CRA and add a payroll program account to it. You can do this through Business Registration Online, by phone or by mail. Set the account up before your first pay date, because remittances and T4 slips are filed under that number. Have ready the legal name, the business address, the date of your first payment to an employee and your expected remitting frequency.

Fix the withholding or reserve the cash. An employee can ask payroll to deduct extra tax each pay, and should refile the personal tax credits form when a second job or a changed credit claim has made the old one wrong. Self-employed people pay quarterly instalments and hold back a set share of every invoice. RRSP contributions made before the deadline reduce taxable income. Reviewing last year's balance early in the new year is what prevents the repeat.