Vancouver City Empty Home Tax Information (Part 1)
Vancouver City Empty Home Tax Information (Part 2)
Part 1 of the Empty Home Tax we discussed general info about the tax and the reason for the tax being implemented. Part 2, will go deeper and discuss in more details how the tax will be implemented and enforced.
As discussed, the rate of the Empty Homes Tax is 1% of a property’s assessed taxable value. The property is going to be deemed vacant or empty if it has not been unoccupied for more than 180 days during the tax year (Jan 1- Dec 31, 2017).
The property will be considered as a principal residence if it is where you usually live and conduct your daily affairs. This is the place where you receive mail and pay your bills from, including utility bills. Since principal residence is exempt from the Empty Home Tax, the 180 days a year occupation requirement does not apply. This means, if you travel a lot and did not occupy the home for 180 days, you are still exempt from the Empty Homes Tax.
The City may require information or evidence to prove a property is your principal residence, which may include a vehicle registration, Driver’s license or other government-issued IDs, income tax returns, employment records and insurance certificates.
On contrary, if you have a property that is not a principal residence in the City of Vancouver, then the amount of days you physically occupy the property by yourself, your family or friend does not exempt it from the Empty Home Tax. This means, the property needs to be rented at least 180 days a year, 30 consecutive days at a time, for it to me exempted from the Empty Home Tax.
Unable to find tenant itself does not exempt the owner from their Empty Home Tax liability, just like having your property listed for sale itself does not exempt the owner from the tax.
Part 3 will go into the Empty Home Tax exemptions that are available to the Vancouver home owners. If you have further questions, please do not hesitate to contact our office at (778-379-8577) and speak to Paul Choi or any of our friendly staff.