The NDP Government of British Columbia announced their BC Budget for 2018 on February 20, 2018. BC Housing is a big part of their Budget and these are main points...
ADDITIONAL PROPERTY TAX FOR FOREIGN ENTITIES AND TAXABLE TRUSTEES
- Has gone from 15% to 20%, effective February 21, 2018.
- Contracts written before Feb. 20, 2018 with a closing on or before May, 2018 are exempted, but only for Capital Regional District, Fraser Valley Regional District, Regional District of Central Okanagan or Nanaimo Regional District. Note this exemption does not apply in Greater Vancouver.
- Transfers pursuant to court order, order of foreclosure, separation agreement, transfer from personal rep of deceased’s estate to beneficiary or transfer to surviving joint tenant are also exempt, provided the triggering event occurred before Feb. 20, 2018.
- This tax applies to the Capital Regional District, Fraser Valley Regional District, Regional District of Central Okanagan, Nanaimo Regional District and Greater Vancouver. The areas for each region can be found at https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/taxes/property-taxes/property-transfer-tax/understand/additional-property-transfer-tax/bc-areas
- Only on residential property; if property is farmland or commercial with a residential component, tax applies on the residential component.
- Exemption for BC Provincial Nominee Program still applies.
SPECULATION TAX
- Tax is meant to target foreign and domestic homeowners who do not pay income tax in B.C.
- Tax will apply to same areas as foreign buyers tax apart from Okanagan, where it only applies to Kelowna and West Kelowna.
- Starts in 2018 at $5.00 per $1,000.00 of assessed value, goes up to $20 in 2019.
- Not sure how this will affect vacation homes, nor when this tax is payable.
PROPERTY TRANSFER TAX
- Tax rises from 3% to 5% on value of homes over $3,000,000.00.
- Remains at 1% on first $200,000.00, 2% on amounts between $200,000.00 and $2,000,000; 3% on amounts between $2,000,000.00 and $3,000,000.00 and 5% on amounts over $3,000,000.00.
PRE-SALE CONDO ASSIGNMENTS
- Developers will collect and report information about pre-sale condo purchases; nothing else in budget about pre-sale contracts or assignments that we have seen.
B.C. HOME OWNER SECOND MORTGAGES
- This program is now cancelled
Certain aspects of the budget remain unclear and we may see changes going forward. The Agricultural Land Reserve has been mentioned and the Property Tax for these properties will be assessed.
Video of the Announcement:
