BC’s “speculation tax” does not apply to Kootenays, with high percentage of out-of-province buyers

The speculation tax will target foreign and domestic speculators in BC.

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Log cabin-type house, lit up at dusk.

— Photo courtesy Remax Invermere

In Budget 2018, the BC government announced that it would be introducing legislation to impose an annual speculation tax. The tax will be effective for the 2018 tax year. The speculation tax will target foreign and domestic speculators in BC. The tax will not apply to the Kootenay region.

The speculation tax will initially apply to the Metro Vancouver, Fraser Valley, Capital and Nanaimo Regional Districts, and in the municipalities of Kelowna and West Kelowna. In 2018, the tax rate will be $5 per $1,000 of assessed value. In 2019, the rate will increase to $20 per $1,000 of assessed value.

According to an article in the Globe and Mail newspaper the Kootenay region is heavily dependent on Alberta home buyers. The article, which called the region "Alberta's Playground" cites the following statistics showing the percentage of out-of-province buyers. 

Here are the Top 10 communities for out-of-province buyers in the Kootenays:

1) Panorama Resort area — 89%
2) Radium Hot Springs — 75%
3) Invermere (rural) — 69%
4) Golden (rural) — 64%
5) Canal Flats — 60%
6) Fernie (rural) — 56%
7) Invermere — 51%
8) Silverton — 43%
9) Nakusp (rural) — 41%
10) Creston (rural) — 38%

Though not applicable to the Kootenays, the B.C. Government stated, “The majority of BC homeowners will be exempt from this tax. The speculation tax will target foreign and domestic speculators in BC. These are homeowners who have removed their units from BC’s long-term housing stock – meaning they are not owner-occupied or a qualifying long-term rental property.”

Read the entire Globe and Mail article here: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/new-tax-stirs-fear-in-parts-of-bc-that-are-albertasplayground/article38099003/

Source: Globe and Mail

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