B.C. Government Gives Broad Exemptions to Controversial Speculation Tax
The tax, first announced during February's budget, was to be assessed at 0.5 per cent of a vacant property's assessed value this year and two per cent in 2019.
B.C. Finance Minister Carole James announced the tax would remain at 0.5 per cent for properties owned by B.C. residents but would now only rise to one per cent for out-of-province Canadian residents and still remain at two per cent for foreign investors.
The NDP government also said the tax would no longer apply to properties in the Gulf Islands, Parksville, Qualicum Beach or rural Fraser Valley.
The tax will still apply in the following areas:
Metro Vancouver, Chilliwack, Abbotsford and Mission (excluding Bowen Island).
The Capital Regional District (excluding the Gulf Islands).
The municipalities of Nanaimo, Lantzville, Kelowna and West Kelowna.
