3 ms·

If I knew a trusted local, could they buy the property for me and then give me a leasehold without incurring the tax?

by arjie 10y ago

erikpukinskis 10y ago
Sure. You might be able to get out of the tax just by living in the house. The law is just meant to be for people who are buying property as an investment with no intention of living in the city.
- zapdrive 10y ago
  Incorrect. You need to be a Canadian citizen, or a Permanent Resident, or have a valid work visa to avoid the tax.
  - lawnchair_larry 10y ago
    Those are trivial to buy in most countries by "investing" in a business. Probably even a business that buys and sells property.
    - mistermann 10y ago
      You can buy PR in Quebec, the predominantly French speaking province that has a parallel government as they threaten to seperate every so often when they don't get what they want.
- arjie 10y ago
  Ah, I see. That makes sense. The vacancy provision is good, even if it does require valid residency to apply (going by https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13569671 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13569671)
mistermann 10y ago
You most likely don't even have to do that, just lie, the likelihood of being audited is very low, and if you did get busted, it would likely be a couple thousand dollar fine (we can only speculate, as they magically never catch anyone). http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/cra-launches-review-of-bc-real-estate-speculators/article31847258/ http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/cra-launches-re... "“Management has known of this issue for at least three years but did not want to pursue the real-estate flips because most of the auditees were Chinese in descent. They were scared of being racist … I can confirm this fact, based on meetings held,” the auditor said." Of course, this is all being rectified as we speak, the government assures us. ;)

3 ms·

If I knew a trusted local, could they buy the property for me and then give me a leasehold without incurring the tax?

by arjie 10y ago

If I knew a trusted local, could they buy the property for me and then give me a leasehold without incurring the tax?

erikpukinskis 10y ago
Sure. You might be able to get out of the tax just by living in the house. The law is just meant to be for people who are buying property as an investment with no intention of living in the city.
- zapdrive 10y ago
  Incorrect. You need to be a Canadian citizen, or a Permanent Resident, or have a valid work visa to avoid the tax.
  - lawnchair_larry 10y ago
    Those are trivial to buy in most countries by "investing" in a business. Probably even a business that buys and sells property.
    - mistermann 10y ago
      You can buy PR in Quebec, the predominantly French speaking province that has a parallel government as they threaten to seperate every so often when they don't get what they want.
- arjie 10y ago
  Ah, I see. That makes sense. The vacancy provision is good, even if it does require valid residency to apply (going by https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13569671 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13569671)
mistermann 10y ago
You most likely don't even have to do that, just lie, the likelihood of being audited is very low, and if you did get busted, it would likely be a couple thousand dollar fine (we can only speculate, as they magically never catch anyone). http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/cra-launches-review-of-bc-real-estate-speculators/article31847258/ http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/cra-launches-re... "“Management has known of this issue for at least three years but did not want to pursue the real-estate flips because most of the auditees were Chinese in descent. They were scared of being racist … I can confirm this fact, based on meetings held,” the auditor said." Of course, this is all being rectified as we speak, the government assures us. ;)