BC PST Expansion to Professional Services (Paused)

Definition

The BC PST expansion is a Budget 2026 measure that would extend the 7% Provincial Sales Tax to a named list of professional services that are exempt under the Provincial Sales Tax Act (BC) today. It was scheduled to take effect on October 1, 2026.

On September 18, 2026 the Ministry of Finance announced that the expansion is paused. PST Notice 2026-001, last updated the same day, states that the expansion of PST to accounting, architectural, engineering, geoscience, non-residential real estate, and security services is paused. No new date has been announced.

Key rules

The paused expansion covered these service categories; it does not remove PST from any separately taxable goods, software or services supplied alongside them:

• Accounting services, including bookkeeping and assurance services.
• Architectural services.
• Engineering and geoscience services.
• Security services, including private investigation services.
• Non-residential real estate services, including trading services, rental property management services and strata management services.

PST on architectural, engineering and geoscience services was to apply to 30% of the purchase price of those services. The rest of the list was to be taxed on the full purchase price.

Services that were never part of the announced list:

• Residential real estate services. Only the non-residential side was named.
• Pure IT consulting and custom software development. Software licences and SaaS can already be taxable, subject to software exemptions.
• Management consulting.
• Marketing, advertising, and design services.
• Medical, dental, veterinary, and most health services.
• Legal services, which have been taxable since April 1, 2013.

Example

A BC CPA firm bills $250,000 a year in accounting and tax services to BC clients. No PST applies to those fees. The announced pause means the planned October 1, 2026 expansion will not apply to those fees while the pause remains in effect.

Under the announced measure the firm would have charged 7% on the full fee, so $17,500 on that $250,000. A BC engineering firm on the same list would have charged 7% on 30% of the fee, which is $210 on a $10,000 invoice rather than $700.

Registration was open ahead of the original date: the Notice says a business can register up to six months before its first taxable sale. If your firm registered for PST in advance and has nothing taxable to sell, the registration still stands. Check what your account is expected to file in eTaxBC rather than assuming nothing is due.

Common mistakes

• Adding a PST line to accounting, architectural, engineering, geoscience, security or non-residential real estate invoices because of the original announcement. The paused expansion does not create a new charge on those fees; check any independently taxable supplies in the same engagement.
• Reading the list as covering residential real estate. The announced measure named non-residential real estate services only: trading services, rental property management services and strata management services.
• Taxing an engineering or architectural fee on its full value. The announced measure applied PST to 30% of the purchase price for architectural, engineering and geoscience services.
• Assuming IT consulting was captured. It was not on the announced list.
• Working from a copy of the original announcement. PST Notice 2026-001 is the page that carries the current status.

Related concepts

• BC PST Exemptions: Goods, Services and Certificates
• BC PST Overview
• BC PST Registration