It would be nice if just once, politicians and their minions designed laws from the perspective of thinking about how people will try to legally skirt around them. Clearly this mental exercise never occurred in British Columbia:
Regardless of the usefulness of the realtor’s online free advice, his tips and many others like them on the web point to how real-estate industry players have long helped a base of offshore buyers sidestep taxes related to non-resident ownership, including the city of Vancouver’s empty homes tax, Ontario’s foreign-buyers tax and B.C.’s speculation and vacancy tax.
It will be important to sort out such regulations and close loopholes because the concept of taxing foreign investment could well play a bigger role in Canada’s near future.
You think buying a house is difficult now. Wait until Blackie brings in the one million immigrants he announced.
Canadians are reproducing themselves at 1.4 children per couple. Obviously not near enough when replacement is 2.2 per couple to break even. Wouldn’t make any dif whether Turdeau was in power or someone else, immigrants will have to come. Canada is not unique as most countries population are shrinking. Demographics will determine future directions and priorities than most people think.
The issue is that all Canadians should be equal and that no group should receive special treatment. The ticking time bomb on immigration is that many of these communities do not have to mesh into Canadian society. IMHO it is very devisive and will lead to future/existing trouble.
Not once has anyone ever splained to me YTF the population can’t fall or become somewhat static.
Automation, mechanization, computerization especially AI all point to a decrease in human labour.
The Ponzi scheme bullshit of needing new taxpayers to fund the aged and retired is a land tread by Full Retards.
Infinite population growth is the stupidest thing ever spouted by anyone, ever.
It’s all about supporting by increasing (maintaining) the growth in the Ponzi scheme for funding of government programs, including the unfunded liabilities of CPP, OAP, and of course, government revenues, except that excuse is in jeopardy, with the advent of far left dickwads like the Liberals adopting MMT.
With MMT, why does anyone pay taxes anymore, if the printing presses can just look after any and all needs? (Crickets……..)
“Not once has anyone ever splained to me YTF the population can’t fall or become somewhat static.”
Bingo, he greatest fallacy of them all. Importing more people to maintain the welfare state is like curing AIDS with cancer.
The reason for low fertility rates is welfare state.
Immigrants of course increase demand for welfare state.
There is nothing wrong with a country population getting smaller.
There is no such thing as not enough people.
There is a design in all of this.
If you follow the money you end up in the legislatures and the parliament of this country.
The proletariat is good with that.
The airhead is going to be reelected as the prime minister of this country.
Who you gonna call?
Lev, Who you gonna call? Ain’t that the truth. Could we call the RCMP? Um, NO! How about our Premiers, Nah, OK, is there somewhere outside of Canada we can call? How about the US Gov? Ha, Nope. How about the UN, LOL, what a joke, they are in the pockets of the Davos elite. There is literally, no one we can call for help, and we are truly screwed.
There are None so blind, as those who “refuse” to see! Eastern voting block indeed. Not only screwed, but the eastern half of the country is remaining bent over crying for more!
British Columbia = B C = Bring Cash
Having owned a condo in Fernie BC since 1997 I can vouch for the gouging by the local tax dept … as Albertans we get to pay about double what a resident who might have kids in the schools pays plus being on the ski hill we get no services … no garbage pick up etc …. plus about a decade ago the local fire dept pledged to stop coming out the hill for fires unless we paid a shake down fee. Thankfully no fires that I know of but we do hand over the “protection money” each year to the fire mafia.
At least the skiing is good 🙂
British Columbia = B C = Bring Cash
Yup. Two days ago I paid the property tax on my house in Fort St. John. Because I’m a non-resident owner, I have to fork over 2/3 more than people who live there, and it went up nearly 10% over last year’s payment. Yeah, I’m treated like a squatter.
On the other hand, if I came from a certain country, that premium might have been waived.
Actually many states/provinces have the same rules. If you are a non-resident, you pay non-resident fees. Such is life. Suck it up.
I can afford to pay the tax, but they do cut into my cash reserves, which were somewhat depleted this year after putting a lot of money into my truck. (That included a new set of summer tires–$1400 to have them mounted on the rims.)
Most politicians can’t seem to see more than one move down the chess board. This is why we get rent control.
The Chinese Communists own us. Money laundering is illegal for Canadians. It does seem to be legal for Chinese criminals with hockey bags of cash to wash it at BC casinos without consequences. Pretty soon if we don’t tax Chinese money, we will be taxing nothing.
When it comes down to it, government is only good at a very few things. Taxation, and wars being almost the entire list.
People wanted government involved in families, marriages, education, welfare (i.e. charity), roads, bridges, power companies, regulating speech, … . How did you expect government involvement in real estate regulation to turn out? Better than its involvement in education? Better than its involvement in residential schools? Better than its involvement in grain marketing? Better than its involvement in healthcare? Were you expecting less potholes than in the roads you drive over every day? Were you expecting it to be better than how they handle snow clearing? Were you expecting it all to be handled better than the split second removal of protesters blocking rail lines (wait, what? you say government selectively enforces laws now too…)?
After all the rolling blackouts and grid failures you have witnessed worldwide from government run systems, you are expecting real estate to “regulate back better” or something?
Kevin, Everything in your post is so true, but unfortunately, we “can’t handle the truth”, so we keep electing these clowns to run the three ring circus, expecting things to improve, but eventually everything that has ever been or happened, devolves into chaos. Why should government be any different? From our perspective, it’s not that it’s all turning to shit, it’s with the rapidity of it happening, that is the surprise. We know civilizations rise and collapse with time, it’s just that it’s only been a decade or two, not centuries. we collectively cluck and twitch, and complain, but we just seem to accept we’re along for the downhill ride. Only complaining about the discomfort of the trip, not the destination.
Want to solve it?
Stop immigration and make foreign ownership illegal.
Think the Chicoms put up with this shit?
The Japanese?
Most Canadians are Fucking Morons.
Oh, but they do. The foreign ownership law was designed to be easily evaded.
The law is a weapon to be used against what remains of the white Canadian bourgeoisie, Christian and Jewish. No meaningful attempts are to be made to stop the Chinese takeover of the Canadian economy.
Ultimately, of course, only our Chinese masters will be permitted to own land at all. Same way only they will be permitted to own a car worth more than its value as scrap.
You’ll live in a room without bath, you’ll ride a bike to get from house to house in your capacity as a Fantuan delivery boy, and you’ll be expected to be grateful.
Why aren’t foreigners using Canadian property for doing virus research exempt from the tax too? Racism, that’s why.
Be careful of what you ask for. If you read the entire article, the author mentions a whole wish list of incremental fascism tied to the sentiment behind the foreign buyer’s tax. The state caused the problem. The state can’t fix it. Why not just ban all CCP members from entry into Canada and laissez nous faire.
Indeed:
“In some ways the government needs to do an extensive auditing program,” Usher said. “Ultimately, you would have staff going out and knocking on thousands of doors, asking, ‘Who is really living here?’ But that’s not cheap to do.”
Media is doing a righteous job of telling the ignorant whom to despise.
The last three words “Canadas near future”. Canada has no future. GO WEXIT
Not gonna quibble with advice to avoid paying spurious taxes, created solely for political purposes.
Low Interest rates are the determining factor for the rise of value of Real Estate since 2001. Our market has been on a steady upward trend since then, barring a couple minor blips.
It was the NDP that introduced this spurious tax, and they’ve done a tremendous job screwing things up with it, not just be omitting obvious areas from the tax, but also in the administration. Every year, we have to declare we are homeowners at the primary residence. Every year, despite the government tracking this data, AND, also claiming the Homeowner’s grant at tax time, which just occurred. Only these dummies would need duplicate declarations, all digitally recorded of course.
It’s another step at division, and has distorted markets outside the Tax zone, such as Sproat Lake, here on the Island. Nice homes on the lake would be about $1 Million when the tax was introduced. These same, large, luxurious summer homes now tip $2 Million or more. Nice tax dodge ya got there Xi!
Notice the home owner’s “grant”. Supposedly paying less tax because the government is somehow giving you your money back. Hurray for government!
It started decades ago, I believe by the old Socreds, not sure if by Wacky or by son of Wacky.
More laws that make the government look good “for doing something” that in fact do nothing.
Home ownership is not possible in Canada, the closest you can get to it is on unorganized land. At best, you can have a lesser or greater amount of equity, which can be gobbled up at a whim.
“Why not just ban all CCP members from entry into Canada and laissez nous faire.”
Ive got a better idea.Send the F’ers back-covid and all.