BC notaries flooded with work before foreign buyers tax deadline

METRO VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – The coming 15 per cent tax on foreign buyers of Metro Vancouver real estate has caused a tsunami of work for BC notaries.

They describe the situation as chaotic as purchasers rush to beat the deadline.

Sales not registered with the land title office before August 2nd will go through under the new rules. Notary David Watts says it has been extremely busy.

“We had a lot of people, obviously foreign buyers, who if they had a deal in the works which was going to complete some time later in the month or later in the year, they’re wanting to move their deals up to close by Friday to avoid the new tax.”

He says it wouldn’t be so bad if the tax wasn’t being brought in during their busiest time of the year.

Watts believes it’s important to do what he can to help as some clients can no longer afford the homes they agreed to buy with the tax added in.

Watts says his foreign clients are from the US, Europe and Australia, not just mainland China.

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