Do barbers in BC need to collect PST?

Short answer: a BC barber charges 5% GST on every haircut and nothing else — provincial PST does not apply to barbering services. The pomade sold at the same till owes both 5% GST and 7% PST, because retail goods are treated differently than services. This post walks through the BC split-tax system, the small-supplier rules on each side, and how to wire both up inside BarberFlow.

Two taxes, two rules

BC didn't harmonize. You're dealing with two separate taxes administered by two separate governments, each with their own rate, threshold, and registration. Ontario glued them into one 13% HST; BC kept them apart.

The provincial exemption is the part that surprises new owners. PST in BC is a consumption tax on goods and listed services — personal services like haircuts, beard trims, and shaves are not on the list. The official source is BC Bulletin PST 138 — Personal Services.

What this looks like on a typical Vancouver receipt

A real Vancouver receipt — haircut plus a bottle of pomade:

Notice the PST line only attaches to the product. If a POS rolls everything into one tax line, the shop is either over-collecting on services or under-collecting on products — both are problems.

GST: the $30,000 federal threshold

The federal GST rule is the same in BC as it is anywhere in Canada. A shop is a small supplier — and doesn't have to register — until worldwide taxable revenue exceeds $30,000 over any rolling four consecutive calendar quarters. Cross it and you have 29 days to register and start charging 5% GST on every taxable supply.

The full CRA rule is at canada.ca — When to register for and start charging GST/HST. What counts toward the $30,000 for a BC barber: gross service revenue, gross product revenue, gross booth-rental revenue you receive. What doesn't count: voluntary tips.

PST: the $10,000 small-seller trap

BC's PST has its own rules and its own threshold. The moment you sell taxable goods in the ordinary course of business in BC, you generally need to register. There's a small seller exemption in Bulletin PST 003 — but it's narrower than people expect.

To qualify as a small seller, all of the following must be true:

• Gross retail sales of taxable goods are $10,000 or less in the previous 12 months,
• Estimated gross retail sales of taxable goods are $10,000 or less in the next 12 months, and
• The business is not operated from established commercial premises.

Register for PST through the BC government at gov.bc.ca — Register to collect PST. It's free and takes about ten minutes.

Tips: same federal rule

Voluntary tips are not consideration for a supply, so they're not subject to GST or PST. A mandatory service charge — auto-added gratuities on group bookings, for example — is taxable, because it's part of the price the customer was required to pay. The Tax Court of Canada settled this in 1410109 Ontario Ltd. v. The Queen and the CRA's position applies nationally.

Chair renters have their own obligations

Same as in Ontario: a barber who rents a chair from your shop, brings their own clients, sets their own prices, and uses their own tools is treated by the CRA as self-employed. They have their own $30,000 GST threshold and — if they sell retail product — their own PST registration obligation.

Your registrations don't cover them. The CRA's industry-specific guidance is at canada.ca — Barbers and hairdressers. For the deductions side, see our self-employed barber tax write-offs guide.

How to configure GST and PST in BarberFlow

BarberFlow handles split-tax provinces natively. Because BC needs two lines (GST on everything, PST on goods only), you'll add two taxes at the location level and tag products separately so PST attaches only to retail.

The five mistakes BC shops make most

1. Charging PST on haircuts. It's not taxable. The provincial exemption is in your favour — use it.
2. Forgetting PST on retail products. The service is GST-only. The pomade beside it is GST + PST. Both lines belong on the receipt.
3. Assuming the federal small-supplier rule covers PST. The $30K GST threshold and the $10K PST small-seller exemption are completely separate — and the PST one almost never applies to a shop with a storefront.
4. Charging tax before registering. You can't collect GST or PST without a number. Get registered first.
5. Mixing chair-renter revenue with your own. Each chair renter has their own GST threshold (and own PST obligation if they sell product). Their revenue doesn't roll into yours, and yours doesn't cover them.

Should you register for GST voluntarily under $30K?

Often, yes — same logic as Ontario. Voluntary GST registration lets you claim Input Tax Credits on chair rent, products you resell, tools, and software. Spend $800 a month on inputs and that's around $40 a month of GST you can recover. Once you cross $30K it becomes mandatory anyway, so many BC shops register on day one to keep the books clean and recover input tax from the start.

PST is different. There's no input-credit mechanism for PST on retail goods you resell — you buy product PST-exempt with a PST exemption certificate and collect PST when you sell. Register for PST the moment you start retailing product from a storefront.

Quick checklist

• Track gross taxable revenue across every rolling 4-quarter window for the federal GST $30K threshold.
• Register for GST the moment you cross $30,000 (or earlier if input tax credits justify it).
• Register for PST the moment you stock retail product from a storefront — the $10K small-seller exemption almost never applies.
• Charge 5% GST on all services and products.
• Charge 7% PST on retail products only — not on services.
• Leave voluntary tips untaxed. Tax mandatory service charges.
• Treat each chair renter as their own business with their own GST and PST obligations.
• Configure GST and PST as two separate taxes under Settings → Locations in BarberFlow.

Operating in Ontario instead? Read the companion on whether barbers in Ontario need to collect HST — the harmonized side rolls GST and PST into a single 13% line, but the small-supplier and chair-renter rules are identical. Renting a chair yourself? The self-employed barber tax write-offs guide covers what you can deduct on the income side.