British Columbia’s Ministry of Finance has announced that, effective for reporting periods that start on or after April 1, 2022, all taxpayers with motor fuel and carbon tax accounts who are on a scheduled filing frequency (e.g., monthly or quarterly) must file their tax returns using the province’s online tax service eTaxBC. Although returns must be filed using eTaxBC, taxpayers will still be able to pay taxes owed by cheque, electronic transfer of funds (EFT), or by using the pre-authorized debit (PAD) payment option within eTaxBC.

eTaxBC is a free and secure 24/7 online B.C. government service, but users are required to register in order to use that service. In its announcement of the upcoming changes, the provincial government indicated that it will be contacting scheduled filers not currently filing returns in eTaxBC with detailed instructions on how to do so.

The announcement of the changes can be found in a Ministry of Finance Tax Notice (2021-005), which is available on the B.C. Finance website at https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/taxes/sales-taxes/publications/notice-2021-005-scheduled-filers-must-submit-tax-returns-using-etaxbc.pdf.