Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
This article is intended for all Veloce users, resellers and support technicians, doing business or providing technical support for users in the province of British Columbia (BC), Canada.
Veloce POS 9.64 or later.
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.
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).
Soft drinks and soda pop
Sparkling fruit juices
Carbonated or nitrogenized energy drinks
Kombucha
Nitrogenized coffee (if sweetened)
Sparkling, sweetened water
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:
Provincial Sales Tax (PST) Notice 2021-002
Learn more about British Columbia's Provincial Sales Tax (PST):
B.C. Provincial Sales Tax (PST)
Read the Provincial Sales Tax Act:
Specific guidelines for the restaurant and bar industry:
This article explains how to create a simple soda item, which is taxable by the British Columbia Provincial Sales Tax (PST). This configuration applies to all items qualifying as "Sodas", but also to any other item and miscellaneous goods taxable by the PST, such as clothing, bottle openers and souvenirs (e.g. souvenir glasses or pens with your company name on them), etc.
Configure the British Columbia Provincial Sales Tax (PST) as detailed here.
Configure the federal Goods and Services Tax (GST) as detailed here.
Create an appropriate item screen as explained here.
Create Regular sales items for each soda type you sell, like Coke, Pepsi, Sprite, 7-up, Iced tea, Red Bull, Monster, etc. Follow the instructions and information provided in the Create Sales Items article.
For each taxable item, configure the tax as follows:
Enable the PST (Provincial sales tax at 7%) and GST (federal Goods and Services Tax at 5%) for all soda items.
Disable this option on all regular items that are not combos. This checkbox only becomes available when the Exception option is enabled in the tax configuration (POS Control > Invoice > Taxes... > [select a tax] > Rate tab > Exception). The text which appears here (Combo in the screenshot) is determined by the text field in the exception configuration.
Leave this drop-down list to None for all taxes.
This checkbox is grayed-out. Leave it disabled for all taxes.
Leave this option disabled for all taxes.
Save this configuration and repeat for all PST-taxable goods.
In this scenario, the 7% PST will be calculated on the price of the item, just like any other tax:
SUB-TOTAL: $2.00
PST: $0.14 ($2.00 * 0.07 = $0.14)
GST: $0.10 ($2.00 * 0.05 = $0.10)
TOTAL: $2.24
This article explains how to create a combo item which contains a soda item, where the taxable soda item is not listed on the menu and not available for sale on its own. Here are a few common examples:
A "hamburger combo" meal which includes a large soda and a choice of sides.
A "pizza special" that comes with a 2-litre bottle of soda.
A buffet which includes access to a soda fountain.
The important element to remember for this specific configuration is that in all of these examples, the soda is not listed on the menu and therefore not available for purchase on its own.
Configure the British Columbia Provincial Sales Tax (PST) as detailed here.
Configure the federal Goods and Services Tax (GST) as detailed here.
Create an appropriate item screen as explained here.
Create Regular sales items for each type of combo. Follow the instructions and information provided in the Create Sales Items article.
For each combo item, configure the tax as follows:
Enable the PST (Provincial sales tax at 7%) and GST (federal Goods and Services Tax at 5%) for all combo items.
Enable this option for the PST tax only, on all regular items that are combos, but only if they include a soda item which cannot be purchased on its own. This checkbox only becomes available when the Exception option is enabled in the tax configuration (POS Control > Invoice > Taxes... > [select a tax] > Rate tab > Exception). The text which appears here (Combo in the screenshot) is determined by the text field in the exception configuration.
Leave this drop-down list to None for all taxes.
This checkbox is grayed-out. Leave it disabled for all taxes.
Leave this option disabled for all taxes.
Save this configuration and repeat for all combo items that include a soda item which cannot be purchased on its own.
NOTE: If the customer can replace the soda with a non-taxable beverage such as bottled water, you need to create a separate combo item and disable the PST for that item.
In this scenario, the 7% PST will be calculated on the lesser of:
50% of the total purchase price of the food or other good and beverage together, and;
$3
If the item price is $6.00 or more, the "$3 rule" applies, and the PST is calculated on $3.00 as shown in the example below:
SUB-TOTAL: $30.00
PST: $0.21 ($3.00 * 0.07 = $0.21)
GST: $1.50 ($30.00 * 0.05 = $1.50)
TOTAL: $31.71
If the item price is $5.99 or less, the "50% rule" applies, and the PST is calculated on 50% of the item's selling price as shown in the example below:
SUB-TOTAL: $5.00
PST: $0.18 (($5.00 / 2) * 0.07 = 0.175 = $0.18)
GST: $0.25 ($5.00 * 0.05 = $0.25)
TOTAL: $5.43
IMPORTANT! There is a known issue in Veloce which causes the "50% rule" not to apply if the price of the item is brought down below $6.00 through the application of a discount. For instance, if the item is priced at $10.00 and a 50% discount is applied, bringing the price down to $5.00, the tax will still be calculated on $3.00 instead of $2.50.
See Jira issue LP-1873.
This article explains how to create a combo item which contains a soda item, where the taxable soda item is listed on the menu and available for sale on its own.
Configure the British Columbia Provincial Sales Tax (PST) as detailed here.
Configure the federal Goods and Services Tax (GST) as detailed here.
Configure all your taxable soda items as described in Example #1: Simple item.
Create an item screen that will contain "Included Item" versions of all your sodas. Give an appropriate name to this item screen, such as "Included beverages" for example. You may refer to the Item Screens article to learn more about item screens.
Create an "Included Item" version of each of your sodas, with a price of $0.00. Follow the instructions and information provided in the Create Sales Items article for more details.
Type a meaningful description. It is also recommended to add a descriptor such as "(included)" to differentiate this item from its regular counterpart.
Set the item's type to Included item.
Set the item's price to $0.00, since this item will be included with the purchase of a combo.
For each included item, configure the taxes as follows:
Enable the PST (Provincial sales tax at 7%) and GST (federal Goods and Services Tax at 5%) for all soda Included items.
Disable this option on all Included items. This checkbox only becomes available when the Exception option is enabled in the tax configuration (POS Control > Invoice > Taxes... > [select a tax] > Rate tab > Exception). The text which appears here (Combo in the screenshot) is determined by the text field in the exception configuration.
On the PST line, select the regular item that will be used to determine the price to use for the purpose of tax calculation. For example, if you are creating the "PEPSI (included)" item, select the "PEPSI" regular item. This will cause Veloce to use the ordinary selling price of the Pepsi ($2.00) to calculate the PST.
This checkbox will become available once you select an item from the drop-down list. Leave it disabled for all taxes.
Leave this option disabled for all taxes.
Create Regular sales items for each type of combo. Follow the instructions and information provided in the Create Sales Items article for more details.
For each combo item, go to the Ordering options tab and make sure to use Forced Remarks to call up the Included Beverages Item Screen:
For each combo item, configure the tax as follows:
Enable the GST (federal Goods and Services Tax at 5%) only.
This option is grayed out and shall therefore remain disabled for all taxes.
Select None on each line.
This option is grayed out and shall therefore remain disabled for all taxes.
Leave this option disabled for all taxes.
Save this configuration and repeat for all combo items.
The employee logs on to the POS.
Employee orders a $5.00 combo item.
The list of included beverages automatically appears, as the combo calls the beverages item screen through a forced remark.
The employee selects a taxable beverage.
The employee prints the invoice and charges the customer.
The GST is calculated on the full price of the combo ($5.00).
The PST is calculated on the ordinary selling price of the soda beverage ($2.00).
With this configuration, the PST is calculated on the ordinary selling price of the included taxable beverage, while the GST is calculated on the price of the combo:
SUB-TOTAL: $5.00
PST: $0.14 ($2.00 * 0.07 = $0.14)
GST: $0.25 ($5.00 * 0.05 = $0.25)
TOTAL: $5.39
hint
IMPORTANT! There is a known issue with Veloce which causes taxes to be calculated incorrectly if the price of the combo falls below the price of the soda item on its own. For instance, if you were to apply a 75% discount on a $5.00 combo, the price would fall to $1.25, which is lower than the price of the soda on its own. The same issue occurs if you create a combo with a base price lower than the price of the soda.
According to the BC tax law, 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.
In this instance, the problem is that Veloce keeps calculating the PST on the ordinary purchase price of the beverage, while it should calculate it on the price of the combo, because the price of the combo is lesser than the ordinary sale price.
See Jira issue LP-3451.
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.
Here is a quick recap of British Columbia's Provincial Sales Tax (PST) rules which applies to soda beverages. For complete and up-to-date documentation regarding taxes, please consult the official British Columbia government site at .
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%.
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.
Configure a regular item called "Buffet - Adult" with a price of $30.00.
Assign the GST and PST as taxes for this item, and enable the exception option on the PST.
You offer an all-you-can-eat buffet for $28.00. You offer access to a soda fountain for an additional $2.00, or the customer can use the water fountain, which is free. 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.
Configure a Regular item called "Buffet - Adult" with a price of $28.00. Assign only the GST tax on this item.
Configure a Regular item called "Soda Fountain" with a price of $2.00. Assign both the GST and PST on this item.
Configure a Regular or Included item called "Water" with a price of $0.00. Don't assign any tax on this item (since it's free).
Link the Buffet - Adult item to the Soda Fountain and water items through a Forced Remark.
This will allow the server to select between "Soda Fountain" (pst-taxable) and "Water" (non-pst-taxable).
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 BC Soda Tax will be calculated on $2.50.
Configure a Regular item called "Hot-Dog + Soda Combo" with a price of $5.00.
Assign both the GST and PST on this item, and enable the exception option on the PST.
Configure a Modifier or Included item called "Soda - Included". Set the item's price to $0.00 and make this item part of a Soda/Soft Drink item screen.
Link the Hot-Dog + Soda Combo item to the Soda - Included item through a Forced Remark.
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 BC Soda Tax will be calculated on the ordinary sale price of the soda, which is $2.25.
Configure all your soft drinks as Regular items, in a "Soft Drinks" item screen. Give them a price of $2.25 each. Assign both the GST and PST on these items.
Configure a Regular item called "Hot-Dog + Soda Combo" with a price of $5.00. Assign only the GST tax on this item.
Configure an Included Item called "Large Soda Included" with a price on $0.00. Assign both the GST and PST on this item.
To make sure to use the regular price of the soft drink for tax calculation, select a regular soft drink for PST in the Taxable amount item column.
Link the Hot-Dog + Soda Combo item to the Large Soda Included item through a Forced Remark.
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.
Use the same configuration as Example #4.
Create a 75% Off promotion which will apply on the Hot-Dog combo.