Rich_BC

Hello all

My first post here.

Myself and my partner will be moving to BC later this year. I'm a PR and she will be on a work permit (future plans are to marry etc at some point..). My question is, if we bought a property together, will we still be liable for the for the Foreign Buyers Tax?

Thanks

christmasoompa

Hi, welcome to BE. I'm afraid I've no idea about the tax, but just wanted to check - you say you'll be a PR but she'll be on a work permit, was she not on your PR application then? Have you already 'landed' and got PR or still do to that? If you've not yet done it, then just checking, but have you lived together for a year or more? Sorry for the personal question, but often people aren't aware of the rules regarding landing and declaring common-law partners so just wanted to flag it just in case.

Rich_BC

Thanks for the reply... I'm already PR, soft landing already completed etc. We met after I became a PR hence her obtaining her own work permit.

christmasoompa

Aha, perfect. Just wanted to check, sorry for the questions but we have occasionally had people on the forum who have had no idea they have to declare a partner before landing and have scuppered any chance of sponsoring said partner in the future!

Hopefully some clever person will be along shortly to answer your tax question.

Good luck with it.

Rich_BC

Thank you! I'll look at sponsoring her once we've spent some time in Canada / married etc. We currently live together (and share many things...so the paper trail/proof is there ).

Anyway, hopefully someone can advise me on the buyers tax rules.

Hurlabrick

I am not an expert, but this link here pretty clearly states that the tax does not apply to Canadian citizens OR permanent residents.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_28...ign-buyers_tax

Rich_BC

Yes I know.. but does it apply if ONE of the joint buyers is NOT a permanent resident... that's my question.....

Vulcanoid

https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/t...y-transfer-tax

Rich_BC

Ahh that's the answer I needed. Thank you!

HGerchikov

Not on expert on the rules in BC but I had a recollection that they relaxed the rules for people with work permits that were working and paying taxes in BC. This article suggests my recollection is correct.

Almost Canadian

That isn`t very helpful to the OP (the government's position, not your post) as, if holding at joint tenants, as most couples do, each is entitled to 100% of the property meaning that, in a situation such as the OP's, one pays nothing, the other pays 100% of the tax.

scilly

You also have to look out for the Speculation and Vacancy Tax which affects certain regions of BC, including Vancouver......... we have just filed ours. Each owner of a property has individually to fill a form stating that they have lived in it for at least 6 months of the previous year OR rented it out. If one owner does not fill out that form, then by a certain date, they will become liable for a Speculation Tax.

Thus 1 owner will be exempt from the tax and 1 will have to pay it ................ and there are cases where 1 partner may have been here while the other has been out of BC for most of the previous year.

This is in addition to the Vancouver Empty Homes tax ........... once again, owners have to fill out a form stating that they live in or rent out for more than 6 months of the previous year any property they own.