BC Vape Tax: 20% PST Rate, Excise Duty, and Seller Rules

The BC vape tax is a 20% Provincial Sales Tax that British Columbia applies to vaping devices, their parts and accessories, and vaping substances. It took effect on January 1, 2020, and sits well above the province’s standard 7% PST on most goods. Add the 5% federal GST and a federal excise duty baked into the shelf price, and the total tax load on a vape purchase in BC is significant.

What the 20% Rate Covers

Three categories of product get the 20% rate: vaping devices, cartridges and parts or accessories for those devices, and vaping substances. A vaping device is anything used to inhale a vaping substance, typically some combination of mouthpiece, battery, cartridge, and heating element. Replacement coils, mouthpieces, and batteries designed for vaping devices are included, and so are pre-filled pods that bundle hardware and liquid together.¹

Vaping substances are any solid, liquid, or gas designed for use in a vaping device that produces vapour when heated. Nicotine content is irrelevant. Nicotine-free e-juice, CBD vape liquids, and herbal vape blends are taxed at 20% the same as nicotine products, as long as they’re intended for a vaping device.¹

What Stays at the Regular 7% PST

Not every product a vape shop sells falls under the 20% rate. Heated tobacco products, like IQOS-style devices, are explicitly excluded from the vapour product definition and stay at 7%. Dry herb vaporizers built for dried cannabis also stay at 7%, along with dried cannabis flowers, cannabis oils meant for oral use, edibles, and topicals.¹

The dividing line is what the device is built for. A vaporizer designed for e-liquid or pre-filled pods gets 20%. A vaporizer designed for loose-leaf herb does not. If a device can handle both, classification depends on how the seller markets it and what it’s packaged with.

What You Actually Pay at the Register

PST is calculated on the purchase price before GST is applied. On a $100 vaping device, the retailer adds $20 in PST. The 5% federal GST also applies, so the combined sales tax you see at checkout works out to 25% of the pre-tax price.²¹

That’s still not the full picture. A federal excise duty is built into the shelf price before you ever see it.

The Federal Excise Duty Underneath the Price

Since October 2022, Canada has imposed a federal excise duty on vaping products under the Excise Act, 2001. As of July 1, 2024, the duty on vaping liquids is $1.12 per 2 mL or fraction thereof for the first 10 mL in a container, then $1.12 per 10 mL or fraction thereof beyond that. The same rates apply per gram to vaping solids.³

Several provinces have signed coordinated agreements that double the duty through an “additional vaping duty” matching the federal rate. As of 2026, that list includes Ontario, Quebec, Alberta, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut. British Columbia is not on it, so only the base federal duty applies to products sold in BC.⁴

Unlike PST, the excise duty is paid by manufacturers or importers and stamped onto the product before it hits retail shelves. You don’t see it as a line item; it’s embedded in the price. A four-pack of 1.5 mL pods carries $4.48 in federal duty in BC (four pods at $1.12 each). In a province with the additional duty, the same pack carries $8.96 in duty before any provincial sales tax is added.⁴

If You Sell Vape Products in BC

Any business located in BC that sells vapour products must register to collect and remit PST. Registration is done online through the eTaxBC portal, and vapour products (including parts and accessories) are listed as a category that triggers the registration requirement on its own.⁵

Filing frequency is set by the province based on how much PST you collect annually. Anything over $12,000 a year is monthly filing only. Between $6,001 and $12,000, you file monthly or quarterly. Between $3,001 and $6,000, quarterly or semi-annual. Under $3,000, you can file as infrequently as annually. Returns and payments go through eTaxBC, and businesses with $1.5 million or more in total annual national sales must file and pay electronically.⁶⁷

Getting compliance wrong is expensive. If the province determines you knew about the obligation and didn’t charge the right amount, or repeated an error you’d already been warned about, a 10% penalty applies to the assessment. Late filing starts at 5% of the unpaid amount plus 1% per complete month overdue, up to 12 months, with a harsher formula for repeat offenders. Late payment triggers a separate 10% penalty, and interest compounds monthly on unpaid amounts.⁸

Failing to register at all doesn’t get you out of anything. You’re still considered a collector under BC law and remain liable for all PST you should have collected, plus penalties and interest for the entire period you operated unregistered.⁵⁸

1
Government of British Columbia. Notice to Sellers of Vapour Products – PST Rate Increase to 20%
2
Province of British Columbia. B.C. Provincial Sales Tax
3
Canada.ca. Excise Duty Rates
4
Canada Border Services Agency. Memorandum D18-3-2: Excise Duty Framework for Vaping Products
5
Province of British Columbia. Register to Collect PST
6
Province of British Columbia. Reporting and Paying PST
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Province of British Columbia. Report and Pay PST Using eTaxBC
8
British Columbia Ministry of Finance. Penalties and Interest