Indirect Tax (GST/HST/PST)

Sales tax is easy to get wrong and expensive to get wrong — under-collect and you owe it yourself, over-claim and you face a reassessment. RN Canada helps Alberta and British Columbia owner-managers get their indirect tax right across the federal GST/HST system and BC's provincial sales tax: registering at the right time, preparing returns correctly, recovering credits that were missed, and getting the place-of-supply and transaction questions answered before they turn into assessments.

What RN Canada does

• Registration. Determining when you are required to register for GST/HST and BC PST, and whether voluntary early registration makes sense to recover input tax credits.
• Return preparation. Preparing your GST/HST and BC PST returns in line with your filing frequency, so net tax is calculated correctly and remitted on time.
• Recovery reviews. Reviewing past filings to recover input tax credits you were entitled to but missed, and to correct over-claims before an audit does.
• Place-of-supply advice. Working out which jurisdiction's tax applies when you supply across provincial or national borders, where the rules are easy to misapply.
• Transaction advice. Advising on the indirect-tax treatment of specific transactions — asset sales, intercompany supplies, real property and cross-border services — before they are closed.

Key facts we work with

The small-supplier threshold. A business generally must register for GST/HST once its taxable revenues exceed $30,000 over four consecutive calendar quarters, or in a single quarter. Below that, registration is optional — though many businesses register voluntarily to claim input tax credits. Source: When to register for and start charging the GST/HST — Canada.ca.

BC provincial sales tax. British Columbia applies a 7% PST that operates separately from the federal GST. Whether you must register and collect it depends on what you sell, who you sell to and where the supply takes place. Source: Provincial sales tax (PST) — Province of British Columbia.

Alberta. Alberta does not levy a provincial sales tax, so Alberta-based businesses deal with GST/HST federally — but the moment they supply into BC or other provinces, the place-of-supply and PST rules can come into play. That cross-jurisdiction edge is where errors tend to cluster, and where transaction advice earns its keep.

Who it's for

This service fits owner-managers approaching or past the small-supplier threshold, Alberta businesses selling into BC or other provinces, companies with high purchase volumes where recovery reviews pay off, and any business facing a one-off transaction with an indirect-tax dimension. It suits Alberta and BC businesses that would rather get the GST/HST and PST treatment confirmed up front than defend it on audit later.

How RN Canada helps

We pin down your registration obligations, prepare your returns correctly, run recovery reviews to claim what you missed, and answer the place-of-supply and transaction questions before they cost you. Our founder, Ozgur Duymaz, holds a Ph.D. in accounting and finance and is a CPA (Canada), ACCA (UK) and CMA (US). To get your indirect-tax position right, talk to us or browse the full services overview.

This page is general information, not personalized tax advice. Speak to us about your specific situation.