B.C. PST on engineering services: 30% taxable base and invoice example (2026)

Confirm both parts of the engineering-service definition

For B.C. PST, engineering and geoscience services must pass two tests. The advice or service must be provided by a person registered or required to be registered with Engineers and Geoscientists British Columbia under the Professional Governance Act, and the work must fall within the defined practice of professional engineering or professional geoscience.

The defined practice includes advice or services based on an engineering discipline; specified environmental geoscience, geology, geophysics, or geochemistry work; and advice or services ancillary to that work. If either test is not met, the work is not an engineering or geoscience service for this PST rule. Services provided by a person to their employer in the course of employment are also outside this definition.

Separate taxable design phases from published exempt categories

The Province lists schematic design, design development and contract documents, and tender services as taxable examples. It says these are generally found in categories 2, 3, and 4 of the ACEC-BC budget guidelines, while other work meeting the two-part definition can also be taxable unless a specific exemption applies.

The same page exempts advisory services, construction-related services, resident engineering services, project management services, and construction management services. These are generally found in categories 1, 5, 6, 7, and 8. Engineering or geoscience services that design tangible personal property solely for retail sale are also exempt.

Use the actual scope and provincial description, not a convenient phase name. Split a mixed engagement at fair market value when a single price combines taxable engineering work with exempt or non-taxable goods or services.

Show the 7% rate and 30% base on the invoice workpaper

B.C.'s statutory formula is 7% × (30% × taxable purchase price). The arithmetic is equivalent to 2.1% of a fully taxable amount, but 2.1% is not a separate published PST rate. Preserving the two-step formula makes partial taxability, exemptions, disbursements, and jurisdiction allocations auditable.

For a C$1,000 confirmed taxable engineering fee, the PST base is C$300 and the PST is C$21. If the supplier is separately confirmed to be a GST registrant and the supply is taxable at 5% GST, an illustrative invoice would also show C$50 of GST on the full C$1,000 fee, for a C$1,071 total. The B.C. engineering page does not determine that federal GST treatment; omit or change the GST line when the federal facts produce another result.

In invoicing software, keep GST and PST in separate payable accounts and test the output. A custom code may display a 2.1% equivalent on the taxable engineering line, but the saved calculation should still identify the 7% PST rate, the 30% base, and the confirmed taxable subtotal. Do not apply the code globally to exempt phases or other invoice lines.

Build the purchase price before applying 30%

Most disbursements billed for or in relation to engineering or geoscience services are part of the purchase price. Travel, food, and accommodation disbursements are excluded when they reasonably reflect the actual cost of providing the services. A markup or an amount that does not reasonably reflect actual cost returns that disbursement to the purchase price.

Blueprints provided as part of taxable engineering or geoscience services are included in the purchase price. If the services qualify for an exemption, the blueprints are exempt with them. For a bundled sale, the general provincial rule is to charge PST only on the fair market value of the taxable portion.

The Province's bundled example starts with C$100,000 of mixed engineering work, assigns C$75,000 of fair market value to taxable services, and calculates C$1,575 of PST: 7% × (30% × C$75,000). That order matters—classify and allocate first, then apply the 30% base and 7% rate.

Check the B.C. connection and any self-assessment

Engineering or geoscience services provided in B.C. to a person who resides, ordinarily resides, or carries on business in B.C. are taxable unless an exemption applies. Work for an out-of-province purchaser can still be taxable when it relates to B.C. real property, goods ordinarily situated or delivered in B.C., or a project situated or contemplated to be situated in B.C.

Services provided outside B.C. to a B.C. purchaser can also be taxable when they relate to the same B.C. property or project and the provider is registered or required to be registered with EGBC. If the purchaser is not charged PST, the purchaser may have to self-assess on its PST return or a Casual Remittance Return.

When qualifying outside-B.C. services relate partly to B.C. and partly to another jurisdiction, the purchaser must make a reasonable estimate and retain its basis. PST applies to 30% of the B.C.-related portion, not automatically to the entire engagement.

Review exemptions, resale, small-seller status, and registration

Beyond the exempt service categories, the Province publishes exemptions for qualifying work related to another jurisdiction, services purchased solely for resale, specified First Nations situations and consultations, certain related-corporation employee services, qualifying diplomatic purchases, and federal-government purchases. Each path has conditions and evidence requirements.

A purchase from a qualifying B.C. PST small seller is exempt. The seller must satisfy every criterion in Bulletin PST 003, including both C$10,000-or-less revenue periods, premises rules, and activity restrictions. This is not the federal GST/HST C$30,000 small-supplier test, and a small seller cannot use the engineering-services resale exemption.

A provider selling taxable engineering or geoscience services on or after October 1, 2026 must register through eTaxBC unless it provides only non-taxable or exempt services or qualifies as a small seller. Registration can occur up to six months before the first taxable sale. Sellers of any taxable engineering or geoscience services must file and pay electronically.

Apply the October transition to each fee or milestone

If consideration is paid or becomes due before October 1, 2026 and the services are provided entirely before December 1, PST does not apply to that consideration. If any covered services are provided on or after December 1, PST applies to the consideration attributable to services provided on or after October 1.

When consideration is paid or becomes due on or after October 1, PST applies to the confirmed taxable services regardless of when they were provided, unless an exemption applies. That means September work first billed on October 1 can be taxable, while an amount paid or due in September for work completed in October and November can fall outside PST under the published transition.

Review each retainer, milestone, monthly bill, delayed invoice, bundled scope, disbursement, and cross-jurisdiction allocation separately. Save the contract, EGBC and practice conclusion, service-phase classification, taxable-base worksheet, due and payment dates, invoice, exemption evidence, registration or small-seller result, and the source review date.