Effective February 23, 2022, the purchase or lease of used zero-emission vehicles is exempt from provincial sales tax (PST). The exemption is in effect until February 22, 2027.
The Automotive Retailers Association (ARA) applauds the announcement by the B.C. government to remove the PST on used zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs). The ARA’s Ken Hendricks and Adrian Scovell have been advocating for this incentive for over three years. In 2019, they approached the Ministry of Energy and Mines, and Petroleum Resources with a proposal for creating a used ZEV incentive program that would be inclusive of all British Columbians. The ARA proposed a PST exemption on used ZEVs to help make the shift to the electric more affordable for all British Columbians. The ARA has been working with the government ever since and had subsequent meetings including with the Hon. Bruce Ralston, Minister of Energy, Mines, and Petroleum Resources to help consumers make the shift to electric.
“We’ve been talking to [the] government about the full life cycle of electric vehicles for quite some time,” said ARA president and CEO Adrian Scovell during an interview with Stirling Faux on CKNW, March 5, 2022. “It is the way of the future and [the] government is seriously behind it. They’re actually looking for industry feedback on how to get the product adoption increased, and they began with rebates on new vehicles, but then, of course, once you’ve got them into the pipeline, now what happens? That’s when it became obvious that they needed to turn their attention to used, pre-owned electric vehicles.”
Used Zero-Emission Vehicles Are Now More Affordable for B.C. Drivers
For the next five years, until February 2027, zero-emission vehicles will be exempt from B.C.’s provincial sales tax (PST). The tax exemption is applied to both private and dealer sales of electric vehicles.
What Zero-Emission Vehicles Qualify as Used?
According to the B.C.’s Provincial Sales Tax (PST) Bulletin, a ZEV is considered as “used” if it was previously purchased at a retail sale by a person other than the person liable to pay PST. For leases, a ZEV is “used” if it was previously leased by a person other than the current lessee or was previously purchased at a retail sale by a person other than the lessor.
If you purchase a used ZEV privately or receive it as a taxable gift, the ZEV must have 6,000 km or more on the odometer to be eligible for the exemption.
The exemption will be provided:
- by the motor vehicle dealer or leasing company at the time of sale or lease of a
qualifying used ZEV, or - by ICBC at the time of registration for a qualifying ZEV purchased privately in
B.C. or imported into B.C.
For more information, visit the government’s website.
