Empty homes tax hits six-month mark
Posted July 1, 2017 2:11 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – It’s now been six months since Vancouver’s empty homes tax took effect.
The tax is the first of its kind in the country, aimed at adding around 20,000 units into Vancouver’s tight rental market.
City of Vancouver Finance Director Patrice Impey says this isn’t so much a deadline, but a guideline.
“The July 1st date is really just a reminder to people that if you’re renting out, planning to rent out for six months, you would need to have started at or before July 1st,” he says.
“The way that the tax works is that a property that’s neither principal residence nor rented out for at least six months of the year or doesn’t qualify for any of the exemptions, they would incur the vacant home tax.”
The tax is calculated based on one per cent of a home’s value. So an empty home worth a million dollars, is subject to another 10 thousand in property tax.
Funds raised will go towards affordable housing initiatives.
