Hello @Rein
Excuse me, apologies please allow me to clarify the original post (after gathering additional information)
Taxpayer DID collect PST from BC clients in 2021.
Sole proprietor providing online marketing services.
They called the BC sales tax office to see whether or not they should be collecting PST, which the representative responded NO.
Not wanting the client to be in a position years later owing PST on sales they were told they did not need to collect PST I started researching.
In my preliminary research, I came across PST bulletin 001. Specifically, page 4 of 11 - paragraph Businesses Located Outside B.C. but Within Canada which reads:
Businesses Located Outside B.C. but Within Canada
You must register to collect and remit PST if you are located outside B.C. (see Location of Your
Business below) but within Canada and do all of the following in the ordinary course of your
business:
Sell taxable goods to customers in B.C.
Accept orders from customers located in B.C. (including by telephone, mail, email or
Internet) to purchase goods
Deliver the goods you sell to your B.C. customers to locations in B.C. (this includes goods
you deliver through a third party, such as a courier)
Solicit persons in B.C. (through advertising or other means, including mail, email, fax,
newspaper or the Internet) for orders to purchase goods
https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/taxes/sales-taxes/publications/pst-001-registering-to-collect-pst.pdf
This has given us some written documentation because she does not sell goods rather online marketing services but I am still suggesting she seek an opinion from a sales tax expert specifically one that has knowledge of PST.
Regarding your responses:
They had sales to Ontario (HST), Alberta (GST), and BC (PST&GST)
Part 3A of T2125 states Gross sales (include GST/HST collected)
Part 3B states GST/HST, provincial sales tax
The way it reads is 3A = Net sales + GST +HST
3B = GST/HST + PST
would that not understate sales because the PST portion is missing from Gross sales?
To clarify if an unregistered client incurred a business cost with HST or PST the tax portion would be included as the cost of the expense on the income tax return, correct?
But regarding the sales what are you referring to? Do you mean that if an unregistered client collected PST or HST they put that amount in the tax return as their total sales?
I was under the impression unregistered taxpayers should not collect HST or PST and if they accidentally did (which might be the case in this scenario) they should return it to the customer they wrongly collected it from.