The short answer: On 18 September 2026, British Columbia paused the PST expansion that was due to add 7% to accounting, bookkeeping, architectural, engineering, geoscience, security and commercial real estate services from 1 October 2026. Premier David Eby announced it at the Union of BC Municipalities convention. The pause is done by temporary regulation, has no end date, and is tied to the Canada–US trade war ending. It is a delay, not a repeal. If you sell one of those services, do not add PST on 1 October. If you buy them, your October invoices look like your September ones. Web design, marketing, SEO and IT were never on the list, and the software and hosting line on a website quote is still taxable, as it has been for years.
A paused tax is one the province has stopped from taking effect without removing it from the law. That is the position BC's professional-services PST is in as of 18 September 2026: the legislation stays on the books, a temporary regulation keeps the exemption in place, and the government has said it will revisit the change once trade uncertainty passes.
Ten days ago this site published a walk-through of what the expansion covered and told readers to plan as though it stood, because the Finance Minister had just rejected a committee's recommendation to repeal it. That was the right read of the evidence on 8 September. It is not the position today, and this post is the update.
What exactly was announced
Premier David Eby told the Union of BC Municipalities convention in Vancouver on Friday 18 September 2026 that the province would not go ahead with the 1 October expansion. The announcement drew applause from the local-government leaders in the room, several of whose councils had filed resolutions asking for the change to be dropped from municipal procurement.
The government's news release says the expansion is "paused through a temporary regulation" and that the PST exemption "will be maintained" on accounting and bookkeeping, architectural, geoscience and engineering services, non-residential real estate commissions and services, and security and private investigation services. The Ministry of Finance notice that set out the original rules now opens with one sentence: as announced on 18 September 2026, the expansion is paused.
The reason given is trade. Eby said the government would not proceed "until well after" the US trade war is over, and that delaying the change "will give businesses some breathing room as they navigate tariffs and bans while pivoting to other markets". The province puts the saving to people, local governments and businesses at about $260 million in 2026–27, which is roughly what the expansion was projected to raise in its first partial year.
Paused, delayed or cancelled?
The word matters, because it decides how you plan.
| Term | What it would mean | Is that what happened? |
|---|---|---|
| Cancelled / repealed | The taxing provisions are removed from the legislation; a future government would have to legislate again | No |
| Delayed to a new date | A new effective date is set | No, no date was given |
| Paused by regulation | The law stays; a regulation holds the exemption in place until the government lifts it | Yes |
A temporary regulation can be lifted without a new bill. The condition the Premier attached is the end of trade-war uncertainty, which has no calendar date. The next obvious decision point is Budget 2027 in February, but nothing announced on 18 September commits the government either way. The honest planning assumption is that the expansion could return with a few months' notice, and that it will not return on 1 October 2026.
If you sell one of the affected services
This is the group that did the most work over the summer, and now has to undo some of it.
Do not charge PST on these services from 1 October. The exemption is maintained. An invoice for bookkeeping, alarm monitoring, engineering, or commercial property management dated 1 October carries GST only, exactly as it did in September.
Your registration. Registration to collect PST on these services has been open since 1 April 2026, and many firms registered early on the province's advice. As of 18 September the Ministry's notice says nothing about what those firms should do with the registration. The reasonable holding position is to leave it in place, charge nothing under it, and wait for a Ministry bulletin. Cancelling and re-registering later is more work than holding a dormant registration. Confirm that with your accountant rather than with a web designer.
Client notices. If you sent clients a "prices include 7% PST from 1 October" letter, send a short correction now. One paragraph: the province paused the change on 18 September, your fees stay GST-only, nothing is needed from them. Clients who prepaid September fees to beat the date will want to hear it from you before they read it in the news.
Engagement letters, quotes and your website. Anything that says "plus PST from 1 October 2026" needs the line removed or dated. A pricing page that still promises a tax that is not coming looks careless in a way that costs trust with exactly the clients you want. If your website is the kind that needs a developer to change a sentence, that is a separate problem worth fixing on its own, and one a site built for a Kamloops accounting or bookkeeping practice should never have.
Your accounting software. Turn off the PST tax code on the affected service items, or set its effective date to "never" if the software forces a date. Leave the GST code alone.
If you buy one of the affected services
Nothing changes on your October invoices. A shop paying $400 a month for bookkeeping, which was about to pay roughly $336 a year more, does not.
If you prepaid to beat the date. The transitional rule was that a fee paid or due before 1 October and completed before 1 December escaped PST. Some businesses paid September invoices early on that basis. The rule is now moot because there is no tax to escape. You lost nothing, but you also gained nothing, so if the prepayment strained cash flow there is no reason to repeat it.
If you were quoted a project with PST built in. A construction, tenant-improvement or engineering quote prepared in the summer may include the effective 2.1% on architect and engineer fees. Ask for it to be re-issued without that line before you sign.
If you own commercial property. The 7% on commercial property and strata management fees does not arrive on 1 October. Residential landlords were never affected, and the 2027 rent cap post still stands on that point.
What did not change for anyone
The pause is about professional services. It does not touch the older PST rules, and two of those matter for anyone buying digital work.
| Item on a website or marketing invoice | PST status | Changed by the pause? |
|---|---|---|
| Web design and development | Not taxable as a service | No, never on the list |
| Digital marketing, SEO, Google Business Profile work | Not taxable as a service | No, never on the list |
| Software, SaaS, platform subscriptions | Taxable at 7% | No, taxable for years |
| Web hosting | Taxable at 7% | No, taxable for years |
| Domain registration | Not taxable | No |
| Custom software written for one customer | Exempt | No |
So the advice from the earlier post holds. Ask for an itemised quote, with design and build on one line and the taxable software and hosting on another. That is the only place PST reaches a website project, and it has nothing to do with the professional-services expansion. It also makes what a website actually costs easier to compare across quotes from any studio doing web design in Kamloops.
How to unwind your 1 October preparation
- Stop the tax at the source. Remove or disable the PST code on the affected service items in your invoicing software before the first October invoice goes out.
- Correct anything already sent. Price-change letters, engagement letters, renewal quotes. One dated paragraph each, not a campaign.
- Fix the copy on your website. Any "PST from 1 October 2026" line comes off the pricing page, the FAQ and any banner.
- Hold the registration. Do not cancel a PST registration on your own initiative. Charge nothing under it and wait for Ministry guidance, then confirm with your accountant.
- Check prepaid invoices. If a client prepaid to use the transitional rule and you added PST to that invoice, review it with your accountant. The notice gives no instruction, so do not guess.
- Diarise February. Budget 2027 is the next point at which the province could set a new date. Put a reminder in the calendar so the return, if it comes, does not surprise you the way the pause did.
Common questions
Is the BC PST expansion to professional services cancelled? No. It is paused. On 18 September 2026 the province said the expansion would be held back through a temporary regulation, with the exemption maintained on accounting, bookkeeping, architectural, engineering, geoscience, security and non-residential real estate services. The legislation stays in place and no end date was set.
Do I still charge PST on bookkeeping from 1 October 2026? No. The exemption on accounting and bookkeeping services is maintained. Invoices for those services dated 1 October 2026 or later carry GST only, the same as before. Check that your invoicing software has the PST code removed from those items before the first October invoice.
I already registered to collect PST on my services. Should I cancel? The Ministry of Finance notice announcing the pause gives no instruction on existing registrations as of 18 September 2026. The reasonable holding position is to leave the registration in place, charge nothing under it, and confirm with your accountant once the Ministry issues guidance.
Why did BC pause the PST expansion? The government cited ongoing trade disruption and economic uncertainty from the Canada–US trade war. Premier David Eby said the delay would give businesses breathing room while they deal with tariffs and pivot to other markets. Business groups and a multiparty legislature committee had also called for the change to be dropped over the summer.
Does the pause change PST on my website or marketing invoices? No. Web design, digital marketing and SEO were never on the professional-services list, so they were not affected before and are not affected now. Software, SaaS and hosting bundled into a website project remain taxable at 7% under the older rules, which the pause does not touch.
When could the PST expansion come back? No date has been given. The government tied the pause to the end of trade-war uncertainty, which has no calendar. Budget 2027, expected in February, is the next obvious point at which a new effective date could be set. Plan as though it could return with a few months' notice, not on 1 October 2026.
The honest summary
The province stopped the professional-services PST twelve days before it started. If you sell one of those services, take the tax out of your invoicing, correct anything you already told clients, and leave your registration dormant until the Ministry says otherwise. If you buy them, your October costs are your September costs.
For everyone buying digital work, nothing moved in either direction. Web design, marketing and SEO were not taxable before and are not now. The software and hosting line was taxable before and still is. Ask for the itemised quote regardless.
And treat this as a pause. The law is still there, the regulation is temporary, and February is not far away.
Sources: B.C. pauses PST expansion to professional services amid ongoing trade uncertainty (BC Gov News, 18 September 2026) · Notice 2026-001: Notice to providers of professional services (Province of British Columbia, updated 18 September 2026) · Bulletin PST 105: Software (Province of British Columbia) · B.C. pauses planned expansion of PST to professional services (Vista Radio, 18 September 2026) · BC pauses expansion of PST on professional services (Island Social Trends, 18 September 2026)
Written by Jagatjeet — Jagatjeet (jagatjeet.com) is a web design, local SEO and AI automation studio in Kamloops, British Columbia, serving the Thompson-Okanagan and BC Interior. Published 18 September 2026. Last updated 18 September 2026. I am not an accountant or a tax adviser, and this is not tax advice. The pause was announced the day this was written and the Ministry of Finance may issue further guidance — confirm your own situation with a BC accountant or the Ministry before acting.