Great letter but it wont let me sign it wants another e mail address this
is the only one I have
Robert stewart 250 317 3681
From: obe-members-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <obe-members-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On
Behalf Of Bo Skapski
Sent: March 6, 2018 4:38 PM
To: obe-members@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [obe-members] IMORTANT! PLEASE READ! BC Speculation Tax
This is probably the worst piece of legislation in BC history. If left as
is, anyone with a second home in the Kelowna or West would have to pay
usurious taxes that would probably force them to sell here. This would
probably force them to sell, crating numerous issues, the biggest of which
would be a huge impact on the local economy.
This is the most poorly conceived and unfairly applied tax I have ever seen.
It was originally designed to tax Chinese owners of condos and homes in
Vancouver who had vacant homes in "ghost buildings". It is also being
applied unfairly to Victoria and the Nanaimo region, but will have the same
effect on places like the Gulf Islands as it will here. The economic impact
of this tax would be disastrous to the Central Okanagan economy and would
probably have a "spill over" effect in other areas.
Please click on this link and sign this petition so that we can have our
voices heard in Victoria.
https://www.change.org/p/british-columbia-government-stop-bc-s-speculation-t
ax?utm_medium=email
<https://www.change.org/p/british-columbia-government-stop-bc-s-speculation-
tax?utm_medium=email&utm_source=petition_signer_receipt&utm_campaign=trigger
ed&j=254048&sfmc_sub=612122199&l=32_HTML&u=46244908&mid=7233052&jb=852553>
&utm_source=petition_signer_receipt&utm_campaign=triggered&j=254048&sfmc_sub
=612122199&l=32_HTML&u=46244908&mid=7233052&jb=852553
Here are some examples:
I know some people whose dad built a house in West Kelowna, on the lake, in
1957. It is an older house but, because of the legislation, starting in
2019, they would have to pay an additional $33,100 per year (over an above
property taxes) if they didn't make the house available for full time
rentals. There is a BC tax credit, but they would have to have a taxable
income in excess of $400,000 to balance the $33,100 payment. The payment
actually starts in 2018 but it's "only" $8275.00. They aren't rich people,
just people who have had the same property for 61 years. How could they be
classed as "speculators"?
Another client of mine lives out of province. They have a townhouse at
Gallagher's Canyon, which they bought 4 years ago, that they use for about 5
months of the year. They spend lots of money here. Under the "Speculation
Tax" they will have pay $15,000 per year, in addition to their taxes. If
they bought at Predator Ridge, there would be no "Speculation Tax" to pay.
The BC Government has proposed what they call a "Speculation" Tax in their
2018 Budget. The objective of this tax is to prevent "foreign" real estate
owners from driving up the price of BC real estate by purchasing BC real
estate, leaving the properties vacant and then flipping the properties
simply to make a profit, thereby driving BC real estate prices higher.
I am what is referred to below as a Satellite Family. I am currently an
Alberta resident but I have owned property in BC as a vacation home since
2006. I consider the Okanagan home. My husband was raised in Coquitlam and
attended UBC. We will retire there in a few short years. We are residents,
not speculators.
We and many of our friends and family from BC, Alberta and Saskatchewan have
visited our Okanagan home and spent many weeks and months there as
residents. We spend thousands of dollars in our home community every year,
at restaurants, Superstore, Save-On Foods, wineries, restaurants, Home
Depot, Canadian Tire, the list goes on. We are residents, not speculators.
BC Residents: Please sign this petition. We do not want to leave our home
but we cannot afford the "speculation" tax which more than doubles, and then
more than quadruples our property taxes. If we sell, and we would have to,
we not only have to abandon our dream vacation home but we take all of our
spending with us. Who will buy our home? A BC resident? Maybe, or maybe an
actual speculator.
Ministry of Finance
Tax Information Sheet
ISSUED: February 2018 Information Sheet 2018
Tax Info Sheet
The speculation tax will target foreign and domestic speculators in BC.
These are homeowners who have removed their units from BC's long-term
housing stock -
meaning they are not owner-occupied or a qualifying long-term rental
property.
Satellite families - households with high worldwide income that pay little
income tax in BC - will also be captured by the tax.
The speculation tax will initially apply to the Metro Vancouver, Fraser
Valley, Capital
and Nanaimo Regional Districts, and in the municipalities of Kelowna and
West
Kelowna.
In 2018, the tax rate will be $5 per $1,000 of assessed value. In 2019, the
rate will increase to $20 per $1,000 of assessed value.
