本文发表在 rolia.net 枫下论坛“The province of B.C., and other provinces, do not like the fact that a small minority of these immensely wealthy families are technically living under the poverty line in multimillion-dollar homes, and entitled to GST credits, child tax credits, and you name it. But the [dollar] numbers don’t present a business case to do anything about it.”
This disappoints me.
Ten years ago, about one-third of my neighborhood was purchased by exactly these families.
The fathers live in China and the wife and / or kids live in Canada. They live in homes worth $4.0 - $10.0 million and declare little or no Canadian income.
I am taxed on my income, then effectively taxed a second time to support these free-loaders.
Compounding matters, locals have to purchase real estate with after tax dollars. Foreign buyers effectively purchase housing at a 50% discount because they never paid Canadian taxes on the money to buy this real estate.
This is not a small matter to be ignored!
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So, one early piece of information emerging from the new scrutiny is that close to twenty per cent of recently built condos in the city of Vancouver are owned by a person who actually lives in a foreign country.
In other words, it is not a home, it is instead a garish cross between a secret bank account at tax time and a personal hideaway at excursion time.
So much for the prattle from the distractors and apologists over the years, who kept insisting to us that money from outside of Canada only accounted for a few percent at most of real estate purchases in Vancouver (roll eyes)...
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Hmmm....wasn't the real estate association in BC claiming the rate of foreign ownership was less than 5 percent?
I hope the federal government goes ahead with the foreign buyers tax and ignore the developers who are against it. It has to be a whole of Canada approach to limiting foreign ownership of residential properties or it becomes a fire that just spreads to other areas of the country.
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About time, should have been done years/a decade ago. I hope the CRA/govts are aggressive in going after those individuals/corporations that owe money or are dumping criminal proceeds into real estate.
Governments have been asleep at the switch on these issues for years, I'm sure due to the fact that they've been beneficiaries of political donations from the real estate industry.
6thline
3 days ago
Agree completely. Ontario/Toronto should be doing all the same things as BC/YVR. Else the bad money will just shift east
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Banning foreign buyers is probably the best thing to do right now as we have allowed this to go on for far too long. Should the govt. not have the courage to take such a bold measure as NZ has done, we should revisit the taxes on such. A 2% tax on satellite families is a joke. 2% on a 2 million dollar house works out to $40,000. A similar Canadian family who lived in a $2 million dollar home would easily have to pay at least $150,000 in taxes / yr based on qualification for mortgage. The discrepancy is too huge and the satellite families are making out like bandits. While this may appear xenophobic, I also feel that Canada should stop Chinese immigration immediately. They have brought us more societal problems than anyone else.
wind_stopper
3 days ago
Right on - making their income in China, and declaring tax-exemption income here. We are so stupid for allowing this to go on.
Industrial Research
3 days ago
Just tax foreign ownership differently.
Don't bother with the SVT, it is far too easy to dodge. Foreign owners can simply pretend to receive rent from relatives in Canada, then return the "rent".更多精彩文章及讨论,请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net
This disappoints me.
Ten years ago, about one-third of my neighborhood was purchased by exactly these families.
The fathers live in China and the wife and / or kids live in Canada. They live in homes worth $4.0 - $10.0 million and declare little or no Canadian income.
I am taxed on my income, then effectively taxed a second time to support these free-loaders.
Compounding matters, locals have to purchase real estate with after tax dollars. Foreign buyers effectively purchase housing at a 50% discount because they never paid Canadian taxes on the money to buy this real estate.
This is not a small matter to be ignored!
=======
So, one early piece of information emerging from the new scrutiny is that close to twenty per cent of recently built condos in the city of Vancouver are owned by a person who actually lives in a foreign country.
In other words, it is not a home, it is instead a garish cross between a secret bank account at tax time and a personal hideaway at excursion time.
So much for the prattle from the distractors and apologists over the years, who kept insisting to us that money from outside of Canada only accounted for a few percent at most of real estate purchases in Vancouver (roll eyes)...
===
Hmmm....wasn't the real estate association in BC claiming the rate of foreign ownership was less than 5 percent?
I hope the federal government goes ahead with the foreign buyers tax and ignore the developers who are against it. It has to be a whole of Canada approach to limiting foreign ownership of residential properties or it becomes a fire that just spreads to other areas of the country.
==
About time, should have been done years/a decade ago. I hope the CRA/govts are aggressive in going after those individuals/corporations that owe money or are dumping criminal proceeds into real estate.
Governments have been asleep at the switch on these issues for years, I'm sure due to the fact that they've been beneficiaries of political donations from the real estate industry.
6thline
3 days ago
Agree completely. Ontario/Toronto should be doing all the same things as BC/YVR. Else the bad money will just shift east
====
Banning foreign buyers is probably the best thing to do right now as we have allowed this to go on for far too long. Should the govt. not have the courage to take such a bold measure as NZ has done, we should revisit the taxes on such. A 2% tax on satellite families is a joke. 2% on a 2 million dollar house works out to $40,000. A similar Canadian family who lived in a $2 million dollar home would easily have to pay at least $150,000 in taxes / yr based on qualification for mortgage. The discrepancy is too huge and the satellite families are making out like bandits. While this may appear xenophobic, I also feel that Canada should stop Chinese immigration immediately. They have brought us more societal problems than anyone else.
wind_stopper
3 days ago
Right on - making their income in China, and declaring tax-exemption income here. We are so stupid for allowing this to go on.
Industrial Research
3 days ago
Just tax foreign ownership differently.
Don't bother with the SVT, it is far too easy to dodge. Foreign owners can simply pretend to receive rent from relatives in Canada, then return the "rent".更多精彩文章及讨论,请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net