PST on non-residential real estate services.
Perhaps the most immediately alarming change in the 2026 BC budget for real estate agents is the fact that PST will now be charged on “non-residential real estate services, including trading services, rental property management services and strata management services,” according to the Government’s notice.
Let’s take some time to unpack exactly what this means. First, “non-residential real estate” means properties not classed as residential or supportive housing, which is primarily commercial real estate. It then follows with, “including trading services, rental property management services and strata management services,” which are presented as subcategories within the commercial real estate umbrella.
Given this, if you are involved in commercial real estate, this expansion of the PST will apply to you. If you are not, then it appears the rule does not apply to you.
However, some have speculated that under certain interpretations of this budget line that the current application may be broad enough to capture some residential adjacent services, such as professional strata management and rental services with respect to residential properties. Some strata management companies have already sent notices to their residents that they will be charging PST from their clients because of this expansion of PST.
According to the guidance we received from the Rulings and Interpretations Team at the Ministry of Finance, this speculation appears to be incorrect, and PST will not apply to residential real estate services. The Rulings and Interpretations Team writes that, “the changes do not apply to residential real estate services. They will continue to be treated as non-taxable services.”
Your clients will have questions.
Even if the new budgetary requirements are not directly applicable to you, you may have to field questions from clients regarding how this new budget impacts them. That’s why it’s crucial to understand Homeseeker-facing aspects of the 2026 BC budget.
We’ve written an article explaining how the new property taxes apply to Homeowners that you can use to inform yourself and send to your clients as well.
If your clients ask about the expansion of PST to strata management and rental management, for now you can let them know that it appears this is not the case, and PST will not be applied to residential real estate services.
Furthermore, beyond these immediate implications, the budget also contains provisions that may have longer-term impacts on real estate in British Columbia. For those impacts, we’ll be releasing another more in-depth analysis coming soon.
