How to pay your property taxes

You pay your property taxes to the office that sent your property tax notice.

Rural area properties

In a rural area, your tax payment must be received on or before the due date to be considered on-time. If we receive your payment after the due date, late payment penalties will be charged.

If you qualify for the home owner grant, complete the home owner grant application online before your payment due date. 

If you are not able to pay your taxes in full, still claim your home owner grant. You may also qualify to defer your taxes.

Pay your rural property taxes:

• Online using eTaxBC
• Through your bank or financial institution
• Through your mortgage agreement
• At certain government offices
• By mail

Your rural property taxes can also be estimated and paid in advance.

Online using eTaxBC

Pay your rural property taxes by using eTaxBC.

If you're already enrolled in eTaxBC for other taxes you pay, you need to enrol for a separate eTaxBC logon to pay your rural property taxes.

To enrol for access to eTaxBC, you need the following information:

1. Your account type: Property Tax – Rural
2. Your property folio number
3. Your enrolment code

You can find your property folio number and enrolment code on your current property tax notice or Statement of Account. Once you're enrolled, use the eTaxBC Help Guide for Rural Property Taxes to learn how to pay your property taxes using eTaxBC. Payments through eTaxBC can only be made in Canadian funds, from a Canadian bank account set up for online banking.

Enrol for access to eTaxBC or Login to eTaxBC

Prepay

If you expect to be away in June or July, or wish to pay your property taxes before the due date, you can:

• Send a post-dated payment through your online banking (allow 3-5 business days for the payment to reach us by the due date)

• Pay online using eTaxBC. You can make a post-dated one-time payment or set up recurring pre-payments in eTaxBC. For help with eTaxBC, call the eTaxBC support line at Tel: 1-877-388-4440.

• Mail us a post-dated cheque that is dated on or before the due date

Bank or financial institution

You can pay your property taxes through your bank or other financial institution (including credit unions). When you make a payment through your bank or financial institution, confirm that the payment will be received by us on or before the due date. For example, banks will often process payments received in the afternoon with the date of the next business day.

There are three ways you can pay your property taxes through your bank or financial institution:

1. Bill payment service
2. Wire transfer
3. Electronic funds transfer

Note: You cannot make a payment at a financial institution you do not have an account with.

 Bill payment service

Most banks and financial institutions offer bill payment services. Bill payment services can generally be accessed through your online banking account, an automated teller machine (ATM), telephone banking or in-person with a teller.

Note: When you pay in-person, you need to set up a bill payment service for Rural Property Taxation before you pay with a teller.

To pay your property taxes using a bill payment service you need to add Rural Property Taxation as a payee to your bank account. To add a new payee to your bank account, you need:

• Our payee name: PROV BC - RURAL PROPERTY TAX
• Property folio number as listed on your rural property tax notice. Enter the property folio number without spaces or decimals. For example, 012 34567.890 must be entered as 01234567890

For assistance, contact your bank or financial institution.

When you complete your payment, write down the confirmation number generated and keep it in your records in case you need to request a trace on the payment. 

Wire transfer

To successfully submit a payment through wire transfer, you must:

1. Make the payment in Canadian dollars
2. Provide your bank or financial institution with our account information
3. Validate your payment by sending us your payment details

Note: Some financial institutions charge a fee for processing EFTs and wire transfers, which may be deducted from your payment amount. Ensure your financial institution does not charge from the payment amount due as this will result in an underpayment.

Account information (wire transfer)

Provide your bank or financial institution the following account information:

Validate your payment (wire transfer)

After you make a wire transfer payment, you must immediately validate your payment by sending us the following payment details:

• Your folio number
• The amount of your payment
• The date your payment was made

You can send the payment details by:

1. Email at RSBCClientCare@gov.bc.ca and enter in the subject line “Wire Transfer – Your Name and Property Folio Number”

or

2. Fax to 250-405-4415, attention Electronic Payments Clerk, Revenue Services of British Columbia

If you do not validate your payment, we cannot match your payment to your account and may result in late payment penalties.

 Electronic funds transfer

To successfully submit a payment through electronic funds transfer (EFT), you must:

1. Make your payment early as it can take up to three days for us to receive EFT payments
2. Make the payment in Canadian dollars
3. Provide your bank or financial institution with our account information
4. Validate your payment by sending us your payment details

If you do not have an EFT account, you can set one up with your bank or financial institution. You should set up your EFT account well before your payment is due.

Note: Some financial institutions charge a fee for processing EFTs and wire transfers, which may be deducted from your payment amount. Ensure your financial institution does not charge from the payment amount due as this will result in an underpayment.

Account information (EFT)

Provide your bank or financial institution the following account information:

Validate your payment (EFT)

After you make an EFT payment, you must immediately validate your payment by sending us the following payment details:

• Your folio number
• The amount of your payment
• The date your payment was made

You can send the payment details by:

1. Email at RSBCClientCare@gov.bc.ca and enter in the subject line “EFT – Your Name and Property Folio Number”

or   

2. Fax to 250 405-4415, attention Electronic Payments Clerk, Revenue Services of British Columbia

Mortgage agreement

When you sign your mortgage agreement, you can arrange for your annual property taxes to be paid on your behalf. When your mortgage company pays your property taxes for you, you are still responsible for:

• Applying for the home owner grant, and
• Any penalties that result from payment errors made by your mortgage company

Government office

To pay at a government office, you need the remittance advice found at the bottom of your property tax notice or Statement of Account. If you qualify for a home owner grant, complete the home owner grant application online. 

You can make your payment at one of the following locations:

• In-Person - Service BC Centre
  Payments by cash, debit, cheque, bank draft or money order made payable to the Minister of Finance are accepted.
• Drop Box Only - 1802 Douglas Street in Victoria
  Drop off your envelope with the payment by cheque, bank draft or money order made payable to the Minister of Finance. Do not drop off cash.

Mail

You can mail your cheque, bank draft or money order made payable to the Minister of Finance. Write your property folio number on your payment so your account can be easily identified when your payment is processed. 

Mail your payment early to make sure your payment is received by us on or before the due date. You can mail us a post-dated cheque but make sure it's dated on or before the due date.

Note: Date of payment is the date we receive your payment, not the postmark date.

Put your payment and the remittance advice, located at the bottom of your property tax notice, into an envelope and mail to:

Surveyor of Taxes
PO Box 9446 Stn Prov Govt
Victoria BC V8W 9V6