Item — HN Reader

> No income this year, fine, you're off the hook.

Some locals are concerned that a disproportionate amount of the very highest value properties now being purchased are owned by those with no income. Poverty level. Asset rich, and rich in foreign cash. No income.

When such owners (OR, often, their elderly and school-aged family) take up residence in Vancouver then the result is 1) a net loss in income tax to support social services (such as education and health care), plus 2) a net increase in the cost to deliver those services because of our new and impoverished residents.

I'm not arguing for more property tax, but it's complex and very different than in the "good 'ole days". Not long ago, an asset-rich person could be assumed to have paid significant income tax into the public coffers during their life before they and their offspring drew down on public resources. Now, many do not. Food for thought?

1 comments

So when they sell, they'll have to pay taxes. Sooner or later they'll have to sell (the point of investment properties is the ultimate profit), and that profit is taxable.

And really, how much money does an empty house need from the city? Street cleaning? Street maintenance? Some paperwork overhead? Except for the last one, they benefit all who use the street (the public), not just the property owner.

I think raising income tax is fairer than raising property taxes.

Incidentally, I think income tax bracket should be calculated on a rolling average income, not a monthly income (to prevent unduly punishing people who make large sporadic income)

They send their children to buy and live in the properties and go to UBC. So when they sell it is non-taxable since it is the child's primary residence.

What taxes do they pay if they sell? Most of them I'm assuming will have one spouse listed as the owner and there's no capital gains taxes on principal residences in Canada.

If you make a large sporadic income, it's either from holding multiple payroll jobs, in which case you can file a form that adjusts your yearly income to the CRA such that your withholdings will make sense, or you're a contractor/business owner and you're paying your own taxes, possibly in installments anyways.

It's not like you're taxed at your peak monthly income. Withholdings are just estimates that can be adjusted.

Your profit, is not their profit.

From what little I understand, the "profit" they get, is to safeguard this money from the Chinese government.

It is an investment towards a "low risk, high reward" future for themselves and their family.