The British Columbia government will allow incorporated professionals and other businesses to apply for a 100 per cent rebate of PST paid between September 17, 2020 and September 30, 2021 (“Eligible Time Period”) on purchases or leases of select machinery and equipment.
ELIGIBILITY
You must be incorporated to be eligible.
Assets eligible for the rebate include machinery and equipment, tools, appliances and furniture, computer hardware and software, and zero-emission vehicles. Excluded Property consists of vehicles (other than zero-emission vehicles), goods purchased to be installed as an improvement to real property, and goods purchased for resale by a small seller.
TIMING
The PST must be paid during the Eligible Time Period. For leases, the PST must relate to a rental period that includes a right to use the Eligible Property between September 17, 2020 and November 30, 2021. All other Eligible Property must be delivered before October 1, 2021 or under a written contract that states that the Eligible Property must be delivered on or before November 30, 2021.
If you are pondering whether or not it is more advantageous to get a bank loan to purchase equipment or choose the lease option instead, you would likely opt for the purchase option. The purchase option gives you the full rebate of the PST. In the lease option, you only get the rebate on lease payments made during the Eligible Time Period.
APPLICATION
You can make two rebate applications: the first application can be made between April 1, 2021 and September 30, 2021. The second application can be made between October 1, 2021 and March 31, 2022, which is six months after the time period ends on September 30, 2021. The second application cannot cover expenditures for which the rebate has previously been claimed.
The Ministry of Finance has not yet released detailed information on the process but will do so before April 1, 2021.
