Register for the employer health tax

Employers with B.C. remuneration above the exemption amount in a calendar year must register for the employer health tax. The exemption amount is:

• $1,500,000 per calendar year for registered charitable or non-profit employers
• $1,000,000 per calendar year for all other employers

If you are associated with other employers, you must share the $1,000,000 exemption amount. If you begin or cease to have a permanent establishment in B.C. during the calendar year, the exemption amount is prorated. Registered charitable or non-profit employers do not have to share the exemption amount if they are associated with other employers.

If you have recently amalgamated, or are planning to amalgamate, please contact us at 1-877-387-3332 or ITBTaxQuestions@gov.bc.ca for more information. 

How to register

Employers who are taxable will first need to register for an employer health tax account using eTaxBC. The registration process will take approximately 10 to 20 minutes.

To register, all applicants will require the follow information:

• Your federal business number (BN)
• A mailing address and business location address (if different)
• The date your permanent establishment started in B.C. (if later than December 31, 2017)
• Your incorporation number and date, if your business is incorporated

Some applicants will require additional documentation:

• Registered Charity
  • Registered Charity Number
• Incorporated outside of B.C.
  • A copy of your incorporation documents
• Partnership
  • A copy of your partnership agreement

Once your registration is processed, you will receive an employer health tax account number in the mail. An employer health tax account number is 11-characters long and will be in the following format: EHT-1234-5678.

Note: If your online application contains errors, the application will be processed manually. This will delay the time it takes for you to receive your registration number.

Once you have your employer health tax account number, enrol for access to eTaxBC to manage your account, file returns and make payments online. If you already have an eTaxBC account, log on and add access to your employer health tax account. 

Deadline to register

You must register by December 31 of the first calendar year you’re required to pay the employer health tax.