COVID-19 delayed some tax changes in British Columbia, and one of those is the collection of 7% provincial sales tax (PST) from streaming services. Now, the B.C. Ministry of Finance announced it'll be collecting PST starting April 1. This news will mostly affect Netflix users, whose bills will reflect the addition of the sales tax. Streaming services like CraveTV, Apple TV, and Amazon Prime already pay PST.
When this tax measure was announced last year, the province estimated it could generate $16 million in taxes for 2021. But that might change because of the pandemic. Netflix last increased its standard and premium prices in the fall, which now starts at $14.99 per month. So, B.C. residents can expect to pay a bit more to use next beginning in April.