Kermode on Nostr: Secret, Surprise! Sales Tax in BC. Yes, it’s as ludicrous as it sounds. As I ...
Secret, Surprise! Sales Tax in BC.
Yes, it’s as ludicrous as it sounds.
As I prepared to buy a used vehicle, last night I looked up what the sales tax would be due to the Province of British Columbia. I immediately came across this article in the Prince George Citizen newspaper [1] :
‘B.C. following example of how other provinces collect used vehicle PST’ “Finance Minister Selena Robinson defends decision to force consumers to pay tax based on wholesale book value rather than actual sales price.”
The reasoning was to discourage fraud. Fair enough. The value is to be read from a tomb called ‘The Black Book’, which is apparently used throughout the land by car dealers to establish a wholesale price.
Naturally, I looked it up on line. No. I could only find it behind commercial websites that wanted not only the details of the vehicle, but my own personal details and my email. No! I don’t want to establish a business relationship with a random corporation, I just want to look up the tax consequences of buying a used vehicle in BC.
Fine. I’ll go to the GA’s office in the morning. So, I did...
The nice lady at the BC Access Center advised that they only did licencing and I would have to see an ICBC agent to find the Black Book price. Right. Off I go to an ICBC agent...
After cooling my heels for a bit, a representative informs me that they are not allowed to tell me! They even used the actual word ‘secret’. The book value and therefore the actual amount of tax may only be disclosed during the actual transfer of the vehicle! Wut‽‽ I protested how insane that sounded. There was some to and froing and finally another representative suggested that I visit a car dealer for the information. Why should I have to visit a for-profit business to find out what taxes my own government wants to extract from me? But, off I went...
The car dealer denied that car dealerships had demanded the new law, but was kind enough to log on to a system that held this elusive ‘Black Book’ and its values. I was told the subscription cost to the dealership was $1,000 per month! That dealer also indicated that perhaps the ICBC agent I’d seen might not be the best (this was very subtle, but clear enough) and that I might try another. So, off I went...
This next ICBC agent was very clear that they were extremely unhappy with the situation and, further, that they used to give out the values, but were reprimanded by the Ministry of Finance in no uncertain terms that they were not allowed to do that!
So, it’s true. The province of BC has a secret, surprise taxman who only jumps out of the bushes as you are completing the transaction! You will have no idea what’s coming! You might use the USian ‘Blue Book’ as a guide – but that’s not the actual Canadian ‘Black Book’ and, besides, they too want your email and so on. Both may want a fee as well – I don’t know, I never went that far.
Moreover, I saw there are several grades of value assigned to a vehicle, depending upon condition and I was told that the province always chooses the highest ‘Clean’ value. If you want to dispute it, you may pay between $150 and $350 to have it assessed privately. What a privilege!
That’s entirely leaving aside why there is sales tax paid over and over and over again every time a vehicle changes hands throughout its service life.
[1] https://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/local-news/bc-following-example-of-how-other-provinces-collect-used-vehicle-pst-6107242 -- Ted Clarke, Nov 15, 2022
Yes, it’s as ludicrous as it sounds.
As I prepared to buy a used vehicle, last night I looked up what the sales tax would be due to the Province of British Columbia. I immediately came across this article in the Prince George Citizen newspaper [1] :
‘B.C. following example of how other provinces collect used vehicle PST’ “Finance Minister Selena Robinson defends decision to force consumers to pay tax based on wholesale book value rather than actual sales price.”
The reasoning was to discourage fraud. Fair enough. The value is to be read from a tomb called ‘The Black Book’, which is apparently used throughout the land by car dealers to establish a wholesale price.
Naturally, I looked it up on line. No. I could only find it behind commercial websites that wanted not only the details of the vehicle, but my own personal details and my email. No! I don’t want to establish a business relationship with a random corporation, I just want to look up the tax consequences of buying a used vehicle in BC.
Fine. I’ll go to the GA’s office in the morning. So, I did...
The nice lady at the BC Access Center advised that they only did licencing and I would have to see an ICBC agent to find the Black Book price. Right. Off I go to an ICBC agent...
After cooling my heels for a bit, a representative informs me that they are not allowed to tell me! They even used the actual word ‘secret’. The book value and therefore the actual amount of tax may only be disclosed during the actual transfer of the vehicle! Wut‽‽ I protested how insane that sounded. There was some to and froing and finally another representative suggested that I visit a car dealer for the information. Why should I have to visit a for-profit business to find out what taxes my own government wants to extract from me? But, off I went...
The car dealer denied that car dealerships had demanded the new law, but was kind enough to log on to a system that held this elusive ‘Black Book’ and its values. I was told the subscription cost to the dealership was $1,000 per month! That dealer also indicated that perhaps the ICBC agent I’d seen might not be the best (this was very subtle, but clear enough) and that I might try another. So, off I went...
This next ICBC agent was very clear that they were extremely unhappy with the situation and, further, that they used to give out the values, but were reprimanded by the Ministry of Finance in no uncertain terms that they were not allowed to do that!
So, it’s true. The province of BC has a secret, surprise taxman who only jumps out of the bushes as you are completing the transaction! You will have no idea what’s coming! You might use the USian ‘Blue Book’ as a guide – but that’s not the actual Canadian ‘Black Book’ and, besides, they too want your email and so on. Both may want a fee as well – I don’t know, I never went that far.
Moreover, I saw there are several grades of value assigned to a vehicle, depending upon condition and I was told that the province always chooses the highest ‘Clean’ value. If you want to dispute it, you may pay between $150 and $350 to have it assessed privately. What a privilege!
That’s entirely leaving aside why there is sales tax paid over and over and over again every time a vehicle changes hands throughout its service life.
[1] https://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/local-news/bc-following-example-of-how-other-provinces-collect-used-vehicle-pst-6107242 -- Ted Clarke, Nov 15, 2022