Speculation tax raises $115M while 99.8% of residents are exempt, provincial figures show

The province raised $115 million from the speculation and vacancy tax during the 2018–19 fiscal year, official data show.

There are 11,783 households paying the tax as of Sept. 3, with over 1.6 million tax declarations filed.

The vast majority of British Columbians – 99.8% – are exempt from the levy, which targets people with vacant property.

The government says the average assessed home value of properties that are subject to the tax is $1.45 million.

A breakdown of those who do pay the tax showed that:

• 4,621 are foreign owners

• 3,060 are satellite families

• 2,362 are BC residents

• 1,519 are Canadians who live outside BC

• 221 are classed as “other” (including properties held through trusts)

The tax is applied to communities in and around Victoria and Vancouver, as well as other areas that have had hot housing markets including Kelowna and Nanaimo.

There have been calls to abolish the tax from those who believe it damages development and hurts people who own two properties.

The tax rate for 2018 was 0.5% of the assessed value for all properties, rising to 2% in 2019 for foreign owners and so-called satellite families, while Canadian citizens or permanent residents continue to pay 0.5%.

Satellite families are defined as those that earn most of their income outside of Canada.

James said the money collected from the tax will be used to help fund affordable housing projects in the communities where it is applied.

"Our government inherited a province at the peak of a housing crisis and committed to tackling this crisis head−on," James said.

"The speculation and vacancy tax is helping to make sure homes are being used for people, not speculation or money laundering."

– With files from the Canadian Press