Tax verification letter frequently asked questions

The purpose of this procurement policy is to ensure businesses and individuals doing business with the Province are compliant with certain provincial tax obligations before entering into provincial contracts valued at or above $100,000 (including all fees, expenses and all options to extend or renew).

Unless an exception applies, the tax verification letter requirement will be required before entering into a contract on or after January 1, 2020.

All vendors entering into a contract with the Province valued at or above $100,000 (including all fees, expenses and all options to extend or renew) are required to obtain a tax verification letter, unless an exception applies. This tax verification letter requirement also applies when an applicable contract is extended or renewed.

This includes vendors such as:

• Consulting, management or financial services companies
• Companies that don’t sell or lease taxable goods or provide software or taxable services
• Not-for-profit organizations
• Indigenous organizations
• Out-of-province, foreign or international entities
• Public sector organizations

The tax verification letter verifies that a vendor is up-to-date with their B.C. corporate income tax filings (filed at the same time as the federal corporate income tax return with the Canada Revenue Agency) and provincial sales tax (PST) filing obligations and that no balance is owing on their PST account, except in the limited circumstances described in the following two questions.

A tax verification letter will not be required where: 

• the contract value, including all  fees, expenses and all options to extend or renew, is less than $100,000 
• the contract is being entered into in response to an unforeseen emergency
• only one vendor is qualified to provide the goods, services or construction

The policy does not apply to government transfer payments as described in Chapter 21 of the Province’s Core Policy and Procedures Manual (grants, entitlements and shared cost arrangements).

A tax verification letter may be requested by a vendor from the Ministry of Finance at any time but must be provided to the purchasing ministry prior to the contract being signed. Therefore, vendors that are participating in a competitive procurement that may result in a contract subject to the tax verification letter requirement should request a tax verification letter as early as possible in the process to avoid a delay when contract finalization or the issuance of a purchase order may be taking place. The tax verification letter is valid for 1 year from date of issue.

The quickest and easiest way for vendors to obtain a tax verification letter is to apply via eTaxBC at: https://www.etax.gov.bc.ca/btp/eservices.

Refer to the Tax verification letter page for more information.

There is no cost to apply for a tax verification letter.

In most cases, the tax verification letter will auto-generate in the eTaxBC system within 24 hours of applying online.

The vendor can contact the Ministry of Finance at: 1-877-387-3332 (Toll free) or at 250-387-3332 (Victoria) or by email at ITBTaxQuestions@gov.bc.ca to find out the status of their tax verification letter.

A confirmation will be available in the vendor's eTaxBC online account once the application form has been submitted.

Vendors should contact the B.C. Ministry of Finance at 1-877-387-3332 (Toll free) or at 250-387-3332 (Victoria) or by email at ITBTaxQuestions@gov.bc.ca. The ministry can update the application for the vendor.  

A tax verification letter is valid for one year from the date the letter is issued.

Yes, the same tax verification letter can be used for multiple contracts. 

Vendors with a PST matter under appeal will still receive a tax verification letter as long as all B.C. corporate income tax (filed at the same time as the federal corporate income tax return with the Canada Revenue Agency) and PST filings are current, and any PST balance owing is related to the matter under appeal.

Provided the vendor has entered into an acceptable payment arrangement to pay the PST balance with the B.C. Ministry of Finance and B.C. corporate income tax and PST filings are current, a tax verification letter will be issued.

No, a tax verification letter will not be issued to a vendor with an outstanding provincial sales tax (PST) balance, unless there is an acceptable payment plan in place or the PST balance relates to a matter under appeal and all B.C. corporate income tax (filed at the same time as the federal corporate income tax return with the Canada Revenue Agency) and PST filings are current.  

Only provincial sales tax filing and balance and B.C. corporate income tax filing (filed at the same time as the federal corporate income tax return with the Canada Revenue Agency) are covered under the tax verification process. More provincial tax accounts, such as employer health tax, may be added later.

For the purposes of the tax verification letter, the B.C. Ministry of Finance will confirm a vendor’s B.C. corporate income tax filings are current.   Corporate income tax balance is not considered at this time.

Yes. The B.C. Ministry of Finance may request that the vendor obtain and provide a federally issued Filing and Balance Confirmation (FBC) letter from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) if B.C. income tax records are not available. An FBC letter can be generated automatically through the CRA’s My Business Account service.

International vendors who have never filed an income tax return in Canada will be asked to contact the B.C. Ministry of Finance at 1-877-387-3332 (Toll free) or at 250-387-3332 (Victoria), or by email at ITBTaxQuestions@gov.bc.ca. 

Yes, all vendors being awarded a contract with the Province valued at $100,000 or more (including all fees, expenses and options to extend or renew), regardless of whether they pay or collect tax, are required to obtain a tax verification letter.  Entities that do not have a tax obligation will be issued a tax verification letter.

A paper application form is available for those who are not able to access the online application. Paper forms take longer to process as they need to be manually entered into the application system and may take up to 4 weeks, to account for mail delivery time.

Vendors can get a paper application form by contacting the B.C. Ministry of Finance at: 

Toll free: 1-877-387-3332

Victoria: 250-387-3332

ITBTaxQuestions@gov.bc.ca

Completed paper application forms are to be sent to: 

Income Taxation Branch
Ministry of Finance
PO Box 9444 Stn Prov Govt
Victoria  B.C.  V8W 9W8

No. If a vendor cannot complete the online application form, original paper application forms are required to be sent via mail. 

Vendors should contact the B.C. Ministry of Finance at 1-877-387-3332 (Toll free) or at 250-387-3332 (Victoria) or by email at ITBTaxQuestions@gov.bc.ca. 

Unless an exception applies, a ministry may not sign, extend or renew a contract without receiving a valid tax verification letter.

Ministries running competitive procurements that relate to contracts subject to the tax verification letter requirement need to:

• alert vendors with appropriate language in a given procurement document that a tax verification letter will be required of the vendor as a condition of finalizing any contract that may be awarded or purchase order issued,
• confirm that the letter provided by the vendor is valid, and will be valid on the anticipated date of signing the contract, and 
• retain a copy of the letter in the contract file. Return the original to the vendor and keep the copy in the contract file.

A tax verification schedule will also need to be attached to all applicable contracts. If the contract is to be extended or renewed, the tax verification schedule requires the vendor to provide a valid tax verification letter to the purchasing ministry before the contract is extended or renewed. Ministries must either confirm that the original tax verification letter is still valid or, if the letter has expired, request and obtain a new tax verification letter before extending or renewing the contract.

A contract with the Province that may have been awarded through a competitive procurement will not be able to be finalized if the tax verification letter cannot be produced in accordance with the process described in the competitive procurement.   

A vendor's time is valuable and the process to obtain a tax verification letter is designed to be as easy and as efficient as possible for vendors.

It is recommended that a vendor apply for a tax verification letter as early as possible in an applicable procurement process to avoid any delay with signing a contract.

If a tax verification letter is required by a procurement process and cannot be produced by the vendor under the terms of the applicable procurement process, then the contract cannot be finalized and the Province will likely need to move on to the next qualified vendor, if any.