Expert Tax Accountants in Delta

GST is 5% in British Columbia for 2026, the same federal rate that applies everywhere in Canada. BC is not a harmonised province, so that 5% GST is charged alongside a separate 7% provincial sales tax, giving 12% on most taxable purchases. The two taxes have different exemption lists, which is why some items show 5% only. GST-registered businesses can recover the GST they pay on business inputs.

GST in British Columbia is 5% for 2026, the same federal rate as everywhere in Canada and unchanged since 1 January 2008. BC also charges a separate 7% provincial sales tax, so most taxable sales come to 12% in total. The two are separate systems: GST is registered and filed with the CRA, PST with the province, and some goods and services are exempt from PST while the 5% GST still applies.

A T4E is the statement of Employment Insurance and other benefits. Service Canada issues one for each year in which EI was paid, covering regular, sickness, maternity, parental, caregiving or fishing benefits, and it shows the total received, the income tax already withheld and any amount to be repaid. Those figures go on the personal return for that year. Benefits paid under a different program come on their own slip.

Line 23600 is net income. Start from total income on line 15000, then subtract the deductions listed above it: registered pension and RRSP contributions, union and professional dues, child care costs, moving expenses, support payments, employment expenses and similar claims. Net income drives most income-tested credits and benefits, so an error there changes benefit entitlement as well as tax. Tax software totals the line automatically from the slips and claims you enter, but check the deduction list yourself.

Check CRA My Account first, because it shows whether the return is assessed and when the refund was issued. An online return is normally processed in about two weeks; a non-resident return can take up to 16 weeks. If that time has passed, or the notice shows a change you did not expect, call the CRA's individual enquiries line with your return in front of you. Direct deposit is faster than a cheque.

You need your social insurance number and current address, every income slip you received such as T4, T4A, T5 and T3, and your revenue and expense records if you are self-employed. Add support for deductions and credits: RRSP contributions, tuition, medical expenses, childcare, donations, moving costs and any provincial credit you claim. Bring last year's notice of assessment and your direct deposit details. Most slips can be pulled straight from your CRA account into tax software approved by the CRA.

Insurance premiums are an exempt financial service, so GST is not charged on the premium, and British Columbia's PST is not applied to insurance premiums either. Taxable items billed alongside follow their own rules: a vehicle purchase, repairs or certain administrative services can each carry tax. The invoice itemises anything taxable, and a registered business can claim an input tax credit only for GST or HST that actually appears on it.

Payroll works from an annualised figure. Take the taxable pay for the period, multiply by the number of pay periods in the year, subtract deductions to get projected annual taxable income, apply the federal brackets, subtract the credits the employee claimed on their personal tax credits return, then divide the resulting tax by the number of periods. Provincial tax follows the same path. The CRA's payroll deductions online calculator does all of it.

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.

Federal personal income tax arrived in 1917, when the Income War Tax Act was passed as a temporary measure to help finance the First World War. It reached only a small number of high earners at first, and although it was passed as a temporary wartime measure the tax was never withdrawn: the Income War Tax Act was replaced by a new Income Tax Act after the Second World War, and today's Act descends from that line. A federal tax on business profits had been introduced the year before, and the personal system broadened steadily over the following decades as rates, credits and withholding were added.

Canada has no general dependant exemption of the kind used in the United States, but you may claim the spouse or common-law partner amount where you supported a partner with low net income. The credit is reduced dollar for dollar by that partner's net income and disappears once it passes the threshold for the year, so both returns should be prepared together. A partner with an impairment may also qualify you for the Canada caregiver amount.

The CRA charges compound daily interest on an unpaid balance starting the day after the payment deadline, at the prescribed arrears rate it sets each quarter. Because that rate is reset quarterly, check the current figure on the CRA site rather than relying on one you saw last year. The same interest applies to late instalments and to penalties already charged. Paying part of the balance now reduces the interest accruing on the rest.