Expert Tax Accountants in Terrace

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.

Sign in to CRA My Account, go to the tax returns area and open the assessed return for the year you need. The T1 General is the return itself, so the copy you download there is what lenders, landlords and immigration officers usually ask for, normally alongside the notice of assessment. If the year is too old to appear online, request a copy by phone or in writing and expect it by mail.

Yes, and usually you should. A return with no income is how the CRA works out the GST/HST credit, the Canada child benefit and provincial credits, all of which depend on a filed return. It also keeps carryforward amounts such as unused tuition on record and gets back any tax withheld. Skipping a year can pause benefit payments until you file, and there is no penalty for filing a nil return.

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.

No. British Columbia exempts books from PST, so a printed book normally carries only the 5% GST. The exemption is aimed at printed books carrying an International Standard Book Number, and newspapers and qualifying magazines get similar treatment. Audiobooks, e-books and digital subscriptions are handled differently, so check the province's PST exemption bulletin for those. The GST still applies either way, and no provincial tax is added at the till.

Largely by self-assessment. Employers withhold income tax, CPP and EI from each pay and send it to the CRA; people with other income pay quarterly instalments; then everyone files a return that reconciles the year into a refund or a balance owing. Businesses collect GST/HST from customers and remit it on their own schedule. The CRA administers federal tax and most provincial income tax, while Quebec collects its own through Revenu Quebec.

Prior-year returns can still be filed, and the CRA accepts several years back. Each year is filed on that year's own forms, so gather the slips and receipts for each one, pull missing slips from your CRA account, and file the oldest year first so carry-forward amounts flow correctly into later years. Interest and a late-filing penalty apply to any balance owing. If income was left out deliberately, ask about the CRA's Voluntary Disclosures Program before filing.

Look at three things. Income first: a raise, a second job, a bonus, self-employment or investment income can move you into a higher bracket or leave too little withheld. Second, payroll deductions reset each January as the CPP and EI limits are indexed, and CPP2 applies to earnings above the main ceiling. Third, credits or benefit amounts claimed last year may no longer apply. Compare this notice of assessment with last year's, line by line.

British Columbia charges 5% GST plus 7% PST (2025 and 2026), so 12% on a purchase taxable under both. They are separate taxes with separate rules: GST goes to the CRA, PST to the province, and each has its own exemptions, so many purchases carry GST only. A registered business recovers the GST through input tax credits but cannot recover the PST, which stays a cost of doing business.

British Columbia's provincial sales tax is 7% for 2026, on top of the 5% federal GST, for 12% combined. You must register and charge it separately on most tangible goods, software, telecommunications, legal services and services performed on goods. Food for human consumption and many other services are not taxable. Labour follows the item it relates to, so work on goods can be taxable while work on real property generally is not.

Most groceries in British Columbia carry no tax at all. Basic groceries are zero-rated for GST, so staples such as bread, milk, produce and meat are untaxed, and the provincial sales tax generally exempts food for human consumption. Tax appears once an item falls outside the basic-groceries definition: candy, snack foods, carbonated and sweetened drinks, and food prepared or heated ready to eat. Sweetened carbonated beverages also attract provincial tax.

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.