If you’re selling digital services and products to customers in Saskatchewan, then you might be liable for the region’s Provincial Sales Tax (PST). This guide covers two very important parts of the system:
- Registering for the tax, and then
- Filing tax returns on time.
We’ve scoured the Saskatchewan government’s website to provide you with all the necessary information about PST for international businesses in one place.
How to register for PST in Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan offers an online PST registration for all businesses, or “vendors”, that aren’t physically located in the province.
First, you need to apply for a PST number. You can complete and submit a ‘new business registration’ on Saskatchewan eTax Services, or SETS. (This portal is where you’ll file and pay the tax returns. More on that later!) Applying for the number will simultaneously create a SETS account for your business.
There are a couple things to know as you go through the process:
- To indicate what kind of business you have, the application asks you to ‘Add’ the relevant products and services that you sell on this screen.
You can manually type in a description, and then estimate the proportion of revenue it brings to your business, like so:
Add as many products/services as you need.
- Later on, they’ll want to know “Anticipated monthly sales on which SK PST will be collected”. Remember, an estimate doesn’t have to be exact. Also remember that this estimate should be in Canadian Dollars (CAD)!
The rest of the questions are straightforward, and you can submit the form right then and there!
At the end, a confirmation should be displayed confirming your registration was successful. An email with a temporary password* will be sent to the email address you provided.
*Important: The temporary password provided must be used within 24 hours. After 24 hours have passed, the password will expire and you will be prompted to contact the Ministry of Finance at 1-800-667-6102 for support to reset the temporary password.
So we recommend you immediately check your email and log into your SETS account and set a new password.
Note: If you don’t want to apply in the SETS portal, you also have the option to fill out this application form and email it to saskTaxInfo@gov.sk.ca.
Once your application is approved, you will receive a vendor’s license number for PST! This is a unique identifier they’ll use to identify you in the system, and which you’ll need to put on invoices, etc.
The website doesn’t state how long you should expect to wait, but if you have any questions, you can email them at SaskTaxInfo@gov.sk.ca.
How to file PST returns in Saskatchewan
First things first, you must remit taxes in Canadian Dollars (CAD)! Be sure to convert any foreign currency before filing.
When to file and pay
How often you file SK PST depends on how much tax you report (or expect to report) in the Province each year. Smaller businesses file less frequently; higher grossing businesses file more.
Returns are due on the 20th day of the month following the end of the reporting period.
That means you need to submit your PST return and pay whatever tax you owe by the due date to avoid penalty and interest charges.
Note: You must still file every quarter even if you made no sales in Saskatchewan! This is called a “NIL” return, and it follows the exact same process as a normal return. (Just a little less data entry 😉)
How to file
Before you get started, you should collect all the information about your taxable sales in Saskatchewan during the previous quarter. The tax website suggests having these pieces ready:
- total sales and income
- total purchases and expenses
You can file online in your SETS account. Just log in here and click ‘File and Pay’ in the top navigation bar.
Once submitted, you’ll see a confirmation screen with a ‘Make Payment Now’ button, which brings us to...
How to pay
You can send either an electronic funds transfer (EFT) or check. The website says it plans to add more payment methods soon, so keep an eye out for those!
The steps to pay are pretty straight forward in the portal, but if you need any extra guidance, check out Saskatchewan’s guide to making a payment in SETS.
What to do in between registering and filing?
Well, you must comply with all the rules for Saskatchewan PST! That means charging 6% PST on all B2C sales in the Province, among other things.
For further reading that will help you stay compliant and successful as a remote seller, check out our Saskatchewan PST Guide for Businesses.
Note: At Quaderno we love providing helpful information and best practices about taxes, but we are not certified tax advisors. For further help, or if you are ever in doubt, please consult a professional tax advisor or the tax authorities.