Expert Tax Accountants in New Westminster

Sales tax in British Columbia totals 12% for 2026: the 5% federal GST plus 7% provincial sales tax. Both are calculated on the pre-tax price, so they do not compound. PST has a wider list of exemptions than GST, so many receipts show only 5%, while a few items go the other way and carry a PST rate above the general 7%, liquor and passenger vehicles among them, so check the BC rate that applies to the item. Income tax is separate.

Two things move a property tax bill: the rate the municipality sets in its annual budget, and the assessed value of your property. A reassessment can raise your share even when the rate holds steady, if your property gained value faster than others in the municipality. Renovations that add living space or finished area can lift the assessment, while ordinary maintenance and landscaping normally do not. You can challenge an assessment, but only within the deadline printed on the notice.

There is no fixed percentage. Your employer withholds federal income tax, where 2026 brackets start at 14%, plus provincial tax, CPP at 5.95% on earnings between the $3,500 exemption and the $74,600 ceiling, and EI at $1.63 per $100 of insurable earnings up to $68,900. Credits claimed on your TD1 reduce the income tax part. Higher earners also pay CPP2 at 4% on earnings between the ceiling and $85,000 for 2026.

You pay no tax on them. Workers' compensation benefits are reported on a slip, entered on the return and then removed by a matching deduction, so they do not add tax. They do count in net income used for benefits and credits, so they can change what you receive. A wage top-up your employer pays while you are off work is ordinary taxable employment income. File even if compensation was your only income for the year.

In British Columbia the 2026 rates are 5% GST and 7% PST, and each is calculated on the selling price rather than on the other tax. On a $100 sale that is $5 GST plus $7 PST, so $112 in total. The two taxes have separate registrations, returns and rules, so some goods and services are PST-exempt while still carrying GST. Only the GST paid on business inputs is recoverable as an input tax credit; PST generally is not.

Employment Insurance benefits are taxable income and go on your T1 for the year you received them. Anyone paid benefits in the year, whether regular, sickness, maternity or parental, gets a benefits slip from Service Canada through My Account and by mail; people who received nothing get no slip. The benefits also count in the net income used for income-tested credits, and higher earners can face a repayment of regular benefits.

No PST. British Columbia exempts food and beverages for human consumption from PST, so ground coffee, beans and a brewed coffee from a cafe all escape the 7% PST. GST treatment differs: packaged coffee bought as a grocery is zero-rated, while a prepared drink served to you is taxable at 5%. Sweetened carbonated beverages are the main drink category that does attract BC PST. Check the province's food and beverage PST bulletin.

British Columbia's property tax deferment programme is a low-interest loan from the province that pays the annual property tax on your principal residence. Eligibility is limited, broadly to older homeowners, surviving spouses, people with disabilities, and families supporting a child, and there are minimum equity and fire insurance requirements. The province registers a lien on the title and charges simple interest, and the balance falls due when the property is sold or transferred. You renew each year.

British Columbia runs two separate charges. The provincial speculation and vacancy tax applies in designated urban areas and requires every owner there to file an annual declaration, even when exempt; the rate differs for residents and foreign owners. Vancouver's empty homes tax is a separate city levy on top of it. Both are percentages of assessed value and both change, so check the current rate on the province's and the city's own pages.

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.

Yes. Rent you receive for a room in your own home is taxable income, reported gross with the related expenses deducted. You can claim only the share tied to the rented space, usually split by floor area or number of rooms, plus that share of shared costs such as heat, insurance and property tax. Renting to a relative below cost means you report the income but no loss. Keep receipts and a written note of how you split the space.

You owe a balance when the tax withheld or paid during the year came to less than your total tax for the year. Common causes are two employers each applying the basic personal amount, self-employment or rental income with no withholding at all, investment income, RRSP withdrawals taxed at a flat rate, and CPP or OAS with little tax taken off. For the 2025 tax year the balance was due 30 April 2026. Extra withholding or instalments stops it recurring.