VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) - BC business leaders say some tax changes could encourage people to buy or sell homes and keep the building sector afloat as the
HST is slowly done away with.
The soon-to-be dead tax applies to new homes that are $525,000 or more, which is not an outrageous price for a dwelling in Metro Vancouver.
John Winter with the
BC Chamber of Commerce says people may be holding off on buying a new home until the HST is gone by the end of March in 2013.
Winter suggests the province make some changes to the HST to encourage more new home buying, as well as lower another tax. "Changing the time frame for home purchases over the threshold [and] move the threshold up."
"The Property Transfer Tax has always been a major bugaboo and it's a major source of revenue for the government. But in the meantime, if they're trying to, I think, step up activity in that sector that's one area that could use their attention for sure."
Winter notes these suggestions come as the BC government faces an estimated $3 billion budget deficit and is looking to find savings everywhere. "There are some things that can be done but all of them cost money."