15% foreign tax
42 | fall 2016 cmba-achc.ca CMB MAGAZINE
The Tax
British Columbia recently amended its
Property Transfer Tax Act. Other provinces are
considering enacting similar legislation. e
amendment imposes an additional 15 per cent
property transfer tax on transfers of residential
real estate:
n
located in the specified area of the Greater
Vancouver Regional District,
n
to foreign entities
1
, and
n
registered at the Land Title Office on or
aer August 2, 2016.
Imposing the tax was government's effort to
cool down what was considered an overheated
Vancouver housing market. Foreign buyers
were seen to be contributing to the excessive
real estate prices in that market. e tax was
intended to make the market less attractive
to such buyers.
The Litigation
A legal action challenging the validity of the
tax was filed in the British Columbia Supreme
Court on September 19, 2016. e plaintiff in
the action is a 29-year-old university student;
she is a citizen of the People's Republic of
China living in Burnaby, B.C., and has paid
the 15 per cent tax. e plaintiff will be making
an application to the court to have the action
certified as a class-action lawsuit and to have
her appointed as the representative plaintiff
in the action.
If the action is certified as a class action,
all similarly wronged persons have an
opportunity to decide whether or not to
participate in the action. (A class action groups
together people with a common claim against
the same defendant; it allows a mass lawsuit
to be brought for a mass wrong. It can be
A Mass Injustice?
A recent tax imposed upon
foreign buyers of Greater Vancouver properties
has prompted a class-action suit that could
have far-reaching impact
BY RAY BASI, LL.B.
STAFF, EDUCATION AND POLICY REVIEW
