BC & Federal Real Estate Resources

When you purchase or gain an interest in property that is registered at the Land Title Office, you or your legal professional must file a property transfer tax return and you must pay property transfer tax, unless you qualify for an exemption.

In addition to the property transfer tax, if you're a foreign national, foreign corporation or taxable trustee, you must pay the additional property transfer tax on your proportionate share of a residential property's fair market value if the property is within specified areas of B.C. 

Your proportionate share is the percentage of interest that you're registering on title with the Land Title Office. For example, if you're a foreign entity (foreign national or foreign corporation) acquiring a 70% interest in a property, you pay the additional property transfer tax on 70% of the residential property's fair market value.

The speculation and vacancy tax is an annual tax paid by some owners of residential properties in designated taxable areas of B.C.

The tax is designed to discourage housing speculation and people from leaving homes vacant in designated areas of B.C. More than 99 percent of people in British Columbia are exempt from the tax.

Residential property owners in the taxable areas who receive a declaration letter must complete a declaration before March 31 every year, even if they're eligible for an exemption.

Note: The speculation and vacancy tax is a separate and distinct tax from the empty homes tax in the City of Vancouver and the Government of Canada’s Underused Housing Tax.

The BC home flipping tax applies to the profit you earn from selling a property in British Columbia (including presale contracts) if you owned the property for less than 730 days.

The BC home flipping tax return is now available. Find out how to file a return. The tax is imposed under the Residential Property (Short-Term Holding) Profit Tax Act, which took effect on January 1, 2025.Property acquired before the tax’s effective date may be subject to the tax if sold on or after January 1, 2025 and owned for less than 730 days, unless an exemption applies. If you’ve acquired a property other than by purchasing a property (i.e. you were gifted the property), your cost to purchase the property is $0.

The BC home flipping tax is separate and distinct from the federal property flipping rules and is not harmonized or administered with the federal or B.C. income tax. It is intended to discourage short-term holding of property for profit as part of the Homes for People Plan.

The statutory BC right of rescission, known as the Home Buyer Rescission Period (HBRP), gives buyers 3 business days to cancel an accepted offer on most residential real estate. Buyers can use this right unilaterally for any reason, but must pay a 0.25% cancellation fee (e.g., $2,500 per $1 million) to the seller.

The newly built home exemption reduces or eliminates the property transfer tax on qualifying purchases of a principal residence.

Full exemption: Effective April 1, 2024, the fair market value threshold for a full exemption for newly built homes is increased from $750,000 to $1,100,000.Partial exemption: A partial exemption is also available for properties with fair market values just above the threshold. The phase out range is $50,000 above the threshold, with the complete elimination of the exemption at $1,150,000 for qualifying purchasers.