B.C. Soda Tax Overview
Audience
This article is intended for all Maitre'D users, resellers and support technicians, doing business or providing technical support for users in the province of British Columbia (BC), Canada.
Requirements
Maitre'D Version:
Maitre'D 7.08.00.340 or later
Overview
Effective April 1, 2021, soda beverages will no longer qualify for the exemption for food products for human consumption. PST will apply to all retail sales of soda beverages at a rate of 7%.
If you sell soda beverages and are not already registered as a PST collector, you must register to collect and remit PST. Ensure your point of sale systems are updated to charge PST on soda beverages effective April 1, 2021.
What Are Soda Beverages?
Soda beverages are carbonated or effervescent beverages that have bubbles and fizz and contain any of the following:
Sugar
Natural occurring sweeteners
Added natural sweeteners (such as honey, molasses, maple syrup, fruit juice, stevia, etc.)
Artificial sweeteners (such as aspartame, sucralose, saccharin, etc.)
Carbonation or effervescence may be either naturally occurring in drinks (as in the case of fermented non-alcoholic beverages, such as kombucha) or injected after the beverage has been manufactured (e.g. with carbon dioxide or nitrogen).
Examples of Soda Beverages Include:
Soft drinks and soda pop
Sparkling fruit juices
Carbonated or nitrogenized energy drinks
Kombucha
Nitrogenized coffee (if sweetened)
Sparkling, sweetened water
Soda beverages also include:
Frozen sweetened beverages, such as Slurpees or Frosters, that have been carbonated or have other gases added to them, and
Sweetened effervescent beverages that have any of the following added to them:
frozen desserts, such as ice cream (e.g. ice cream floats)
fruit or fruit flavouring
candy, chocolate or another type of confection
NOTE: The information from this section was taken from Notice 2021-002, issued in February 2021 by British Columbia's Ministry of Finance. The original can be consulted here:
Learn more about British Columbia's Provincial Sales Tax (PST):
Read the Provincial Sales Tax Act:
Specific guidelines for the restaurant and bar industry:
British Columbia Soda Tax Configuration
This article explains the Maitre'D configuration required to comply with British Columbia's Provincial Sales Tax Act.
IMPORTANT! This article assumes that your Maitre'D POS system is already configured and fully functional. Use the information from this article to update your existing Maitre'D POS system to the new regulation.
Configuration sequence
Assign all sales items that are defined as "Sodas" to taxable divisions.
Suggested Tax Categories for Maitre'D
British Columbia has two tiers of sales taxes. The first tier is managed at the provincial level, which includes the provincial sales taxes and liquor taxes. The second tier is managed at the federal level, which includes the Goods & Services Tax (GST). Therefore, it is suggested to use two Tax Categories for Maitre'D:
Provincial Taxes
Federal Tax
Required Taxes in Maitre'D
Provincial Taxes:
Provincial Sales Tax (PST) - 7%
Provincial Sales tax (PST) for liquor - 10%
Federal Taxes:
Goods and Services Tax (GST) - 5%
Detailed Tax Configurations
Provincial Sales Tax (PST) - 7%
Maitre'D Tax Settings for 7% PST configured as add-on tax
Maitre'D Tax Settings for 7% PST configured as inclusive tax
Provincial Sales Tax (PST) for liquor - 10%
The provincial Sales Tax at a rate of 10% applies to all alcoholic beverages containing more than 1% of alcohol per volume, such as beer, spirits and liqueurs, wine, mixed drinks, etc.
Settings for 10% PST configured as add-on tax
Maitre'D Tax Settings for 10% PST configured as inclusive tax
Goods and Services Tax (GST) - 5%
The federal Goods and Service Tax (GST) at a rate of 5% applies on all goods and services, including food, beverages, alcohol, clothing, souvenirs, etc. The GST may be used as an add-on tax or an inclusive tax.
Maitre'D Tax Settings for 5% GST configured as add-on tax
Maitre'D Tax Settings for 5% GST configured as inclusive tax
Division Tax Settings for British Columbia
Audience
The settings explained in this article only applies to businesses located in the Canadian province of British Columbia.
Aim
Before you begin
Divisions containing soda beverages
The divisions used for sodas are taxable by both the GST (5%) and PST (7%). Here are the required settings:
Tax #1
Select GST (5%) from the drop-down list.
Tax #2
Select PST (7%) from the drop-down list.
BC Soda Beverages Tax
This section becomes available because the BC Soda Beverage Tax option is enabled in the PST (7%) tax settings.
Maximum Amount
Set this value to $3.00.
Maximum Percentage
Set this value to 50.
Divisions containing alcoholic beverages
The divisions used for alcohol products are taxable by both the GST (5%) and PST Liquor (10%). Here are the required settings:
Tax #1
Select GST (5%) from the drop-down list.
Tax #2
Select PST Liquor (10%) from the drop-down list.
BC Soda Beverages Tax
This section is not available because the BC Soda Beverage Tax option is disabled in both the PST Liquor (10%) and GST (5%) tax settings.
Maximum Amount
Unavailable.
Maximum Percentage
Unavailable.
Divisions containing other taxable items
The divisions used for non-food items are taxable by both the GST (5%) and PST (7%). Here are the required settings:
Tax #1
Select GST (5%) from the drop-down list.
Tax #2
Select PST (7%) from the drop-down list.
BC Soda Beverages Tax
This section becomes available because the BC Soda Beverage Tax option is enabled in the PST (7%) tax settings. However, these settings must be left at zero for "non-soda" divisions.
Maximum Amount
Set this value to $0.00.
Maximum Percentage
Set this value to 0.
Divisions containing food or other non-PST-taxable items
The divisions containing food items are taxable only by the GST (5%). Here are the required settings:
Tax #1
Select GST (5%) from the drop-down list.
Tax #2
Select Undefined from the drop-down list.
BC Soda Beverages Tax
This section is not available because the BC Soda Beverage Tax option is disabled in the GST (5%) tax settings.
Maximum Amount
Unavailable.
Maximum Percentage
Unavailable.
Examples of PST application on sodas
This article will cover some common scenarios that can be encountered when the PST is applied to soda beverages in British Columbia, and a brief overview of the required configuration.
British Columbia "Soda Tax" recap
PST applies to all retail sales of soda beverages at a rate of 7%.
If you offer the beverage for sale without the food or other good, you charge PST on the lesser of:
the ordinary purchase price of that beverage, and;
the total purchase price of the other good and beverage together.
Or
If you offer the beverage for sale only with the food or other good, the lesser of:
50% of the total purchase price of the food or other good and beverage together, and;
$3
Also, don't forget that almost all items sold in restaurants, including soft drinks, are also taxable by the federal Goods and Services Tax (GST) at a rate of 5%.
IMPORTANT! While the new regulations are often referred to as "B.C. Soda Tax", it is important to understand that the government of British Columbia did not create a new tax specifically for sodas. Instead, the updated law simply extends the reach of the existing Provincial Sales Tax to soda beverages.
For your POS system, this means that you should not have a separate tax for sodas. You should use the PST at a rate of 7%.
Example #1
You offer an all-you-can-eat buffet with access to a soda fountain for $30.00. Access to the soda fountain is not sold separately and it is not listed on the menu, therefore it does not have its own price. The $3.00 / 50% rule applies: Since $3.00 is lesser than 50% of $30.00 ($15.00), the PST will be calculated on $3.00.
Configuration for Example #1
Configure a revenue item called "Buffet - Adult" with a price of $30.00. Make this item part of a food division.
Configure a free item called "Soda Fountain". Make this item part of a Soda/Soft Drink division.
Link the Buffet - Adult item to the Soda Fountain item through a Weight Modifier and a variable list.
Example #2
You offer an all-you-can-eat buffet for $28.00. You offer access to a soda fountain for an additional $2.00. Because access to the soda fountain is listed separately on the menu, the PST is calculated on the sale price of $2.00 for this item.
Configuration for Example #2
Configure a Revenue item called "Buffet - Adult" with a price of $28.00. Make this item part of a food division.
Configure a Modifier item called "Soda Fountain" with a price of $2.00. Make this item part of a Soda/Soft Drink division.
Configure a Modifier item called "Water" with a price of $0.00. Make this item part of a "non-soda beverages" division.
Link the Buffet - Adult item to the Soda Fountain and water items through a Weight Modifier and a variable list.
This will allow the server to select between "Soda Fountain" (pst-taxable) and "Water" (non-pst-taxable).
Example #3
You sell a hot-dog and large soda combo for $5.00. The soda is not listed on the menu and not sold on its own. The $3.00 / 50% rule applies: Because 50% of $5.00 ($2.50) is lesser than $3.00, the PST will be calculated on $2.50.
Configuration for Example #3
Configure a revenue item called "Hot-Dog Combo" with a price of $5.00. Make this item part of a food division.
Configure a free item called "Soda - Included". Make this item part of a Soda/Soft Drink division.
Link the Hot-Dog Combo item to the Soda - Included item through a Weight Modifier and a variable list.
Example #4
You sell a hot-dog and large soda combo for $5.00. The Hot-Dog on its own is $3.25 and the drink on its own is $2.25, which are both listed on the menu. In this instance, the PST will be calculated on the ordinary sale price of the soda, which is $2.25.
Configuration for Example #4
Configure a revenue item called "Hot-Dog Combo" with a price of $5.00. Make this item part of a food division and enable the Main Combo Item option for this item.
Configure a revenue item called "Hot-Dog" with a price of $3.25. Make this item part of a food division.
Configure a revenue item called "Large Soda" with a price of $2.25. Make this item part of a Soda/Soft Drink division.
Create and configure a combo meal which will include the hot-dog and a soft drink.
To order this combo, you can rely on combo detection or create variable lists and Weighted Modifiers.
Example #5
You sell a hot-dog and large soda combo for $5.00. The Hot-Dog on its own is $3.25 and the drink is $2.25, which are both listed on the menu. You have a special promotion which gives 75% off hot-dog combos that day, which brings the total price of the combo down to $1.25. In this instance, the PST will be calculated on the total price of the combo, which is now $1.25.
Configuration for Example #5
Use the same configuration as Example #4.
Create a 75% Off promotion which will apply on the Hot-Dog combo.
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