Foreign buyers tax in the Okanagan

[christopher]

Starting in 2016 the government started asking what you sold your home for how long before we are all taxed I think that's where we are going.

[LANDM]

Weaver wanted to do away with the principal residence tax exemption. It’s an easy step.....first go after foreigners, then other Canadians, and when they come for everyone else, we’ve already given the thumbs up.

[alanjh595]

Looks like they are going to back off on this new tax.

James hints at tax rewrite

British Columbia's finance minister is dropping hints the blueprint for the province's proposed speculation tax is being redrawn after a homeowner backlash.

Carole James introduced the speculation tax in last month's budget, but details were scarce other than saying it will come later this year and it targets foreign and domestic buyers who do not pay B.C. income tax.

She said Wednesday concerns about unexpected tax increases from some B.C. property owners with two properties are being heard.

The homeowners have been telling the government about fears their vacation homes will be hit with large tax bills despite promises of offsetting income tax credits.

"Details to come, as I said then (on budget day)," said James. "We're working on those details now, including all of the issues that people have been raising. They are on our table. They are part of our considerations."

The details in the budget pegged the proposed speculation tax at $5 for every $1,000 of assessed value this year and rising to $10 for every $1,000 of assessed value in 2019.

But the budget was not clear about British Columbia residents with vacation or second homes in the province.

"The new annual property tax will target foreign and domestic home owners who do not pay income tax in B.C., including those who leave their homes vacant," said the budget documents.

James said the government is preparing the final details for the speculation tax, and vacation property owners from B.C. is one of the tax issues being reviewed.

"We're aiming to make sure that we get speculators out of the market," she said. "We don't want people treating our housing as a stock market."

James said earlier the tax measures in her budget are part of the government's aim to improve housing affordability for thousands of people, including seniors forced to live in their vehicles and young professionals who refuse jobs in B.C. because they can't find a place to live.

The proposed speculation tax will not apply to every region of the province, targeting Metro Vancouver, the Fraser Valley, the Victoria area, Nanaimo Regional District, Kelowna and West Kelowna.

Opposition Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson said the minority New Democrat government appears to be making up tax policy on the fly.

https://www.castanet.net/news/BC/220596 ... ax-rewrite

[Urban Cowboy]

British Columbia's finance minister is dropping hints the blueprint for the province's proposed speculation tax is being redrawn after a homeowner backlash.

Carole James introduced the speculation tax in last month's budget, but details were scarce other than saying it will come later this year and it targets foreign and domestic buyers who do not pay B.C. income tax.

She said Wednesday concerns about unexpected tax increases from some B.C. property owners with two properties are being heard.

The homeowners have been telling the government about fears their vacation homes will be hit with large tax bills despite promises of offsetting income tax credits.

"Details to come, as I said then (on budget day)," said James. "We're working on those details now, including all of the issues that people have been raising. They are on our table. They are part of our considerations."

The details in the budget pegged the proposed speculation tax at $5 for every $1,000 of assessed value this year and rising to $10 for every $1,000 of assessed value in 2019.

But the budget was not clear about British Columbia residents with vacation or second homes in the province.

"The new annual property tax will target foreign and domestic home owners who do not pay income tax in B.C., including those who leave their homes vacant," said the budget documents.

James said the government is preparing the final details for the speculation tax, and vacation property owners from B.C. is one of the tax issues being reviewed.

"We're aiming to make sure that we get speculators out of the market," she said. "We don't want people treating our housing as a stock market."

James said earlier the tax measures in her budget are part of the government's aim to improve housing affordability for thousands of people, including seniors forced to live in their vehicles and young professionals who refuse jobs in B.C. because they can't find a place to live.

The proposed speculation tax will not apply to every region of the province, targeting Metro Vancouver, the Fraser Valley, the Victoria area, Nanaimo Regional District, Kelowna and West Kelowna.

Opposition Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson said the minority New Democrat government appears to be making up tax policy on the fly.

Spot on Wilkinson.

[Snowbound]

On the fly policy should scare us all. What's to stop them from expanding the tax to the rest of the province? How about all the "rich" BC residents with vacation properties? I know there's lots of BC money in golf course and ski hill properties, and many of them sit empty in the off-season.

[Glacier]

No you don’t......he has nowhere near 2000 acres of fruit trees. And yes, I am accurate, unless your client is in Washington state and wants to house UBCO students.
But I agree with the rest of your post. Sorry....just being accurate and I know every possibility of whom you speak of.

What makes you feel so confident? It's pretty damn close to 2000 acres in total, although the largest parcel of land is only 500 acres.

[LANDM]

No you don’t......he has nowhere near 2000 acres of fruit trees. And yes, I am accurate, unless your client is in Washington state and wants to house UBCO students.
But I agree with the rest of your post. Sorry....just being accurate and I know every possibility of whom you speak of.

What makes you feel so confident? It's pretty damn close to 2000 acres in total, although the largest parcel of land is only 500 acres.

Because I know every possibility that you would be talking about...and I know what you are saying is incorrect. Absolutely for sure.

It is totally irrelevant to the topic....but I have a difficult time with incorrect statements. That’s my problem not yours, so no need to be concerned about it.

[Grandan]

I don't know how taxing some of the homes is going to help homelessness. Many of the vacation homes owned by out of towners are way beyond the reach in price for most people. The houses are in places that are not easy to commute to. The building of these houses provides jobs for local trades and suppliers. Landscapers, painters and roofers will continue to service these homes. Taxes will be taken without the benefit of homeowners grant so more money ends up in the treasury. Fewer commuters on the roads. The building helps provide infrastructure to areas that need it.
To impose a tax on such residences is short sighted.
I understand the NDP is looking at revenue but this not is the place to find it.

[jv34]

NDP why screw up a great economy with lots of construction jobs and buyers...this will have a huge impact on all businesses in Kelowna by slowing the economy down...who the heck wants to invest in BC now that this NDP tax taxes place in...come on give your head a shake and do the right thing and don’t follow through NDP’ers....find other ways for housing the poor not by screwing with the economy.

[staticpen348]

My wife and I are Alberta residents and own a property in West Kelowna which we bought in 2012 in the midst of a DOWNTURN in house prices in the Okanagan. Yes, that's right, a DOWNTURN ! Real estate markets do not go straight up in value !! Even in Vancouver and Toronto !! We spend a good part of the year in the Okanagan, and spend a considerable amount of money on goods and services while we're there, in addition to property taxes, utilities, maintenance costs associated with our property etc. We have been B.C, residents off an on over the last 45-50 years and have lived through the Dave Barrett, Glen Clark, Mike Harcourt years, which, in my opinion were some of the worst that the people of B.C have had to endure in the history of the Province.
And now we have John Horgan at the helm looking to alienate untold numbers of both resident and non-resident property owners with the most ill conceived and poorly thought out proposal in memory to inflict a "speculation tax" on non-residents who own real estate in Kelowna and West Kelowna. There has been apparently zero thought on the part of the government as to how this would play out with regard to house prices in general, not to mention the damage inflicted to the regional economy.
How this government thinks this onerous and hurtful proposed tax is going to help the rental shortage situation is beyond me, and frankly, to everyone I have spoken with in this regard. The only positive I can see emanating from this is that it will go a long way to ensure that the Mr. Horgan, Carol James and the NDP will be the big losers in the long run as the good people of B.C. realize that, as in the past, they have made a huge mistake voting in this party and will give them a firm boot in the next election !!

[Glacier]

There's no difference between speculating and investing. Taxing investments reduces the main driver of economic growth. Thank you NDP for bringing us back to the 1990s! All you foreigners and immigrants wanting to move here or bring your money here, screw you! We hate foreigners so much in BC that we bring policies in that tax the hell out of you. Muslims call it the Jizya, our ancestors called it a poll tax, but we call it a speculation tax. It sounds fancier and nicer, it's still discriminatory and bites the hand that feeds you. But it's worth it because we love to get bitten. That's why we elected the NDP.

[Urban Cowboy]

My wife and I are Alberta residents and own a property in West Kelowna which we bought in 2012 in the midst of a DOWNTURN in house prices in the Okanagan. Yes, that's right, a DOWNTURN ! Real estate markets do not go straight up in value !! Even in Vancouver and Toronto !! We spend a good part of the year in the Okanagan, and spend a considerable amount of money on goods and services while we're there, in addition to property taxes, utilities, maintenance costs associated with our property etc. We have been B.C, residents off an on over the last 45-50 years and have lived through the Dave Barrett, Glen Clark, Mike Harcourt years, which, in my opinion were some of the worst that the people of B.C have had to endure in the history of the Province.
And now we have John Horgan at the helm looking to alienate untold numbers of both resident and non-resident property owners with the most ill conceived and poorly thought out proposal in memory to inflict a "speculation tax" on non-residents who own real estate in Kelowna and West Kelowna. There has been apparently zero thought on the part of the government as to how this would play out with regard to house prices in general, not to mention the damage inflicted to the regional economy.
How this government thinks this onerous and hurtful proposed tax is going to help the rental shortage situation is beyond me, and frankly, to everyone I have spoken with in this regard. The only positive I can see emanating from this is that it will go a long way to ensure that the Mr. Horgan, Carol James and the NDP will be the big losers in the long run as the good people of B.C. realize that, as in the past, they have made a huge mistake voting in this party and will give them a firm boot in the next election !!

Oh believe me we didn't VOTE them in. That was a backroom conspiracy by Horgan and Weaver, neither of which possesses any measurable ethical quality, and just as you, most of us can't wait to kick them both to the curb, first opportunity possible.

[kgcayenne]

We spend a good part of the year in the Okanagan, and spend a considerable amount of money on goods and services while we're there,

We who live here year round are apt to spend much more. Let me guess, your BC home is furnished with AB bought big-ticket items to avoid paying tax here, right? That shorted our retailers and our tax coffers.

in addition to property taxes, utilities, maintenance costs associated with our property etc.

That is a useless point because those costs are rooted with the dwelling itself.

...The only positive I can see emanating from this is that it will go a long way to ensure that the Mr. Horgan, Carol James and the NDP will be the big losers in the long run as the good people of B.C. realize that, as in the past, they have made a huge mistake voting in this party and will give them a firm boot in the next election !!

Move here, pay your dues here, and you can assist in that firm boot.

I'm so sick of the we spend money justification. You realize we all do a happydance in Sep/Oct when you have returned to AB, right?

[vegas1500]

[/quote] You realize we all do a happydance in Sep/Oct when you have returned to AB, right?[/quote]

what an ignorant comment to someone you don't even know. So glad that every Albertan is the same to you. I have many friends in Kelowna that own businesses and i can assure you, they don't share your sentiment.

[kgcayenne]

45 years of built up resentment from hearing the 'we spend money here' thing, from seeing service staff of our regular merchants being treated poorly...