BC Provincial Budget 2016 – Things of Note for Home Buyers

Breaking News:

• The first time home buyer’s exemption will remain the same at $475,000
• Newly-built homes up to $750k will be property transfer tax (PPT) exempt, but only for Canadian citizens and permanent residents.
  • This exemption applies to all homes that are owner-occupied for at least a year after purchase date (qualifications for this do not include relatives).
  • This is a potential savings in closing costs of up to $13,000.
  • This is in addition to the existing First Time Home Buyers’ Program for properties up to $475k.  
• Homes purchased for over $2 million have an increase in property transfer tax of 1% bringing the total tax which was 2% to 3%.
  • The 3% tax is only paid on the amount over $2,000,000.00, not the full price.
  • This tax applies to both new and used homes.
• Buyers will be required to provide their citizenship information, disclosing their country of residence for all property transactions. This information will be monitored by the government
  • This hasn’t been done since 1998.
• The beneficial ownership of properties held by corporations will also be tracked.