How pst works
Unlike HST, PST is not combined with GST into one rate or one return anywhere in these three provinces. A business in one of these provinces registers separately for a provincial sales tax account, charges PST on taxable goods and certain services alongside 5 per cent federal GST, and files a separate PST return with the province on its own schedule, distinct from the federal GST/HST filing deadline entirely.
PST rules on what is taxable vary by province and often differ meaningfully from GST rules, so a purchase taxable for GST is not automatically taxable for PST, and the reverse is also true in certain cases depending on the item. This means transactions need two tax codes, one federal and one provincial, tracked and reconciled independently to avoid over or under-charging either tax to a customer.
Example
A retailer in British Columbia sells $3,000 of taxable goods to a local customer, charging 5 per cent GST ($150) and 7 per cent PST ($210) separately, for a total of $3,360. The GST is remitted to the Canada Revenue Agency on the GST/HST return, while the PST is remitted separately to the British Columbia government on its own provincial sales tax return, filed on a different schedule than the federal one entirely.
PST in QuickBooks Online vs Xero
QuickBooks Online supports separate GST and PST tax codes for British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, tracking each on its own line of every transaction recorded. Xero applies the same dual-code approach, letting a business report GST through the GST/HST return and PST through a separate provincial filing without manual recalculation each period.
Common mistakes
- A purchase that is taxable for GST but exempt for PST, or the reverse, gets coded with a single tax rate instead of the two separate codes required.
- A business assumes PST is filed alongside the federal GST/HST return, missing the separate provincial filing deadline and its own distinct penalty for late filing.
- PST registration is delayed because the business does not realize services, not just goods, can be taxable under its province's specific PST rules.
Why it matters
PST is a separate tax from GST, with its own registration, rules on what is taxable and its own filing deadline, so treating it as an extension of GST creates compliance gaps. Missing the distinct PST deadline or misapplying its rules can trigger provincial penalties separate from any federal GST issue. For business owners in British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, tracking PST as its own obligation protects against two separate sets of penalties.
Related terms
How LedgerBPO handles pst
We apply separate GST and PST codes to every taxable transaction, reconcile both control accounts each period and prepare figures for the federal GST/HST return and the provincial PST return, ready for filing by you or a registered transmitter on time.