PST Returns to Province April 1st, 2013
Prince George, B.C. – B.C. will switch back to the PST and GST regime April 1st of 2013.
In preparation of the return to the old system, new housing transition measures will be in place to give certainty to that sector.
The B.C. new housing rebate threshold will be increased to $850,000, meaning more than 90 per cent of newly built homes will now be eligible for a provincial HST rebate of up to $42,500. It is important to note that the HST does not apply to
resale housing.
In addition, to help support workers and communities in B.C. that depend on residential recreational development, purchasers of new secondary vacation or recreational homes outside the Greater Vancouver and Capital regional districts priced up to $850,000 will now be eligible to claim a provincial grant of up to $42,500 effective April 1, 2012.
The housing transition rules help ensure when people buy a newly constructed home under the PST, whether built entirely under the HST, entirely under the PST, or partly under HST and partly under the PST, they will all pay a consistent and equitable amount of tax.
Specifically:
* B.C.’s portion of the HST will continue to apply before April 1, 2013. Purchasers will be eligible for the new higher B.C. HST new housing rebate, of up to $42,500, and builders will continue to claim input tax credits.
* B.C.’s portion of the HST will no longer apply to newly built homes where construction begins on or after April 1, 2013. Builders will once again pay seven per cent PST on their building materials. On average, about two per cent of the home’s final price will again be embedded PST.
* For newly built homes where construction begins before April 1, 2013, but ownership and possession occur after, purchasers will not pay the seven per cent provincial portion of the HST. Instead, purchasers will pay a temporary, transitional provincial tax of two per cent on the full house price. This ensures equitable treatment among purchasers and will help mitigate distortive market behaviour. Builders will receive temporary housing transition rebates to offset PST on materials to help prevent double-taxation on homebuyers.
For goods and services that will be subject to PST, PST will generally apply where tax becomes payable on or after April 1, 2013. Detailed general transitional rules for goods and services will be available with the full PST legislation introduced in the legislature this spring.
The provincial changes are subject to the approval of the legislature.
Comments
On April Fools Day? Perfect.
We should rename it Vander Zalm day, btw.
Fool and a liar.
Bastards, We voted it out! Get rid of it! Liberals just want their books looking better come election time on our nickle!
By then, the HST could have been down a couple points to 10% had we kept it. Now we get to pay 12% PST + GST. Good move, BC!
I doubt very much that would have happened. Just blowing smoke there Pat.
Ya and PST will go up
Oh, you ‘doubt it’, eh? Well, whatever helps you to sleep at night.
The difference between 10% and 12% will be the least of our worries when the NDP doubles the unemployment rate again
We would have saved the so called 10% savings by not paying taxes on things we never used to. My gawd some just dont get it. Mostly Liberal lovers.
Well, at least all the restaurants that closed because of the HST can open up again. Yeah, some people don’t get it for sure.
I agree, how fitting to return to an outdated and cumbersome tax on April Fools Day! Thanks to Vanderzalm we will be returning to an archiac dual tax system that hides the PST in new construction and in the cost of doing business – so we will all stick our heads in the sand now and pretend it’s not there??? Just what is the cost going to be of collecting the PST seperately? This is money that could have gone to doing something constructive instead of having two groups of people doing the same job! The people who promote these inefficiencies such as Vanderzalm and Dix and the NDP are those who will bring our province down. I remember the last reign of the NDP in the 90’s all too well, when the joke was that the last person leaving the province should turn out the lights. The PST system is not attractive for small and medium sized businesses and they are the engine of our economy from which jobs come. Businesses and the jobs they provide will always go where they are most welcome, everyone ought to have remembered that at the ballot box!
Quit trying to make sense smallbizlady – the narrow. Minded jumped on their bandwagon with Vanderzalm and they will fight their stupid decision to the death.
As a small business owner, I say “boo”. Thanks Vanderzalm, you raging idiot.
Interceptor. Considering that the people who voted for getting rid of the HST numbered in excess of 700,000 which was sufficient to defeat those who voted in favour of it, I would say you are a sore loser.
Anyone with half a brain and a butt could have made changes to the PST that would have addressed some of the concerns of small and medium business’s, without having to go to the HST.
Dont forget that the Liberals had 10 years to make some changes but didnt do bugger all. So get off your high horse.
The Liberals brought in the HST not because it was good tax policy. (In fact they stated a few years previously that they were against it) but because they wanted the $1.6 Billion that was available from the Federal Government so they could try and balance their budget.
The return to the PST while still not good for small business’s will once again get the larger Corporations paying their fair share of taxes. Dont forget that the HST saves business and corporations approx $1.6 Billion per year. Now they can go back paying that tax.
If you think the Liberals are so great then get them to fine tune the PST to make it more effective from small/medium business.
Dont blame Vanderzalm and 700,000 people who voted against this tax. Blame the idiots who brought in the HST under false pretenses.
While it pains me to say it (lol) you do make valid points Palupo. However perhaps it could be the HST that could have had some changes made to it as you suggest could have been done to the PST? I still believe that 650000 out of the 700000 who voted against it know nothing except they hate the liberals…
I know it all, everything, there is not a subject I am not an expert on!!!!
AND I HATE THE LIBERALS!!!!!!!
I’ll just keep my mind off that nasty HST by looking forward to buying a new Chevrolet April 02, 2013.
The announcement in regards to housing should be well received by contractors, real estate agents, etc;
In addition a specific date as to when the HST will go and the PST will be returned is good news. Its a day late and a dollar short, but better than the alternative.
NOW: With the announcement of the HST’s demise. The way is clear for Christy and her Co-Horts to call a snap election.
I would expect it to be this summer, July or August when most people are pre-occupied, and on holidays.
WELL, not that I am the sharpest knife in the drawer, but I have lived in Alberta for nearly 2 years. My medical is free! I don’t pay PST, I don”t pay HST, I pay GST, and that is it!!
Gas today was $1.02 a litre!!
B.C. is hanging on to the HST as long as they can, because they are getting about $10,000,000.00 a day revenue from it! That’s right folks, 10 million dollars a day…
Time for you folks to wake up in B.C.!!! Stand up, or move out..Oilberta has lots of room.
Palopu, you know as well as I that the HST referendum wasn’t about whether the HST was good policy, it was about sticking it to the Liberals. Nothing more.
I also see that you haven’t lost your dream of a provincial election this spring. I still say it ain’t happening.
JohnnyBelt. The HST was about business and corporations downloading their taxes on consumers, with the help of the Liberal Government.
It was a **slick willy** move that they almost got away with. In the end they got caught with their hands in the cookie jar, as a result;
Gordon Cambell is **gone**
Colin Hansen is **incognito**
Kevin Falcon is ** Full of **
The Liberal Government has been knocked for a loop, and unless they can get rid of a lot of **deadheads** that supported the HST they are destined for the garbage bin of history.
A new broom sweeps clean. So Christy should get rid of all those guys who tried to beat her out and build a new team. Otherwise she’s toast.
Palopu, the Liberals are done no matter what they say or do at this point. As it happens in BC, the political pendulum swings back and forth. People forget the previous administration and vote them back in.
In 2001, people were so mad with the NDP they relegated them to non-party status. Inexplicably, it seems people have mostly forgotten that and are ready to vote these clowns back in.
I don’t even think Adrian Dix and his record from the Glen Clark days could screw up an NDP victory.
The HST for accounting purposes was simpler to administer and for Big business it was a windfall of tax savings. However, the HST was a bad tax – period. The argument for that is long over too. The question to remember come election time is Why the 18 month delay to remove the HST? The BC Libeals have shown over the past decade that their interests for our community is not their highest priority. This 18 month delay is clear evidence if that.
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