BC — More than 70,000 businesses in the province still need to register for PST and the April 1, 2013 deadline to be ready is quickly approaching.

Businesses that sell or lease taxable goods, or sell software or taxable services in BC are required to register, even if they were registered under the previous PST.

"With just four weeks until reimplementation of the PST, businesses need to act to ensure they are registered and ready to collect the tax on April 1, 2013,” said Michael de Jong , Minister of Finance.

There are three ways to register:

1. Online: visit to: www.gov.bc.ca/etaxbc/register
2. In person: go to the nearest Service BC Centre. See locations at: www.servicebc.gov.bc.ca.
3. By mail or fax: complete the Application for Registration for Provincial Sales Tax (FIN 418) found at: www.gov.bc.ca/pst in the Forms and Publications section.

"As we committed in August 2011, we are returning to the PST with all permanent exemptions. Consumers will again not pay PST on purchases like food, restaurant meals, bicycles, gym memberships, movie tickets, and others, nor for personal services like haircuts,” said de Jong. “We've also introduced common-sense improvements that will make administration of the sales tax easier for businesses."

To help businesses with the re-implementation of the PST, the government has prepared a number of resources:

• One-on-one consultations with a government tax specialist.
• Online webinars and in-person seminars covering the general principles of the PST and eTaxBC.
• PST bulletins and notices.
• Videos:
  Returning to the PST - An Overview for Business
  PST in B.C. Online Registration
• Businesses with questions about the PST can call our toll-free help line - 1 877 388-4440 or email questions to: CTBTaxQuestions@gov.bc.ca.




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