Does Vancouver's Empty Homes Tax apply to a home I want to buy?

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In the City of Vancouver, a home that isn't anyone's principal residence or rented for at least six months of the year owes 3% of its assessed value, unless an exemption applies. Every residential property in the city is declared once a year, and a home that was empty for more than six months of the year before owes the tax unless an exemption applies. Look up the address or PID on PlaceDossier to see the record for that lot. What it covers: Property classed only as residential (class 1) by BC Assessment within the City of Vancouver; nursing homes, rest homes and child care property are left out (s. 1.2). A property partly in another class isn't covered, and neither are the University Endowment Lands, UBC or the cities around Vancouver (the City's FAQ). What counts as empty: A home is unoccupied while it is neither the principal residence of an owner or someone living there with the owner's permission, nor rented to an arm's length tenant or subtenant for terms of at least 30 days in a row (s. 2.2); it is vacant once unoccupied for more than six months of the year (s. 2.3). A person has only one principal residence, where they live and get their mail and bills (s. 1.2). A tenant related to the owner, or the owner's own company, doesn't count unless the tenancy is treated as arm's length (s. 1.2). What it costs: 3% of the property's taxable assessed value, for 2021 and every year after (1% for 2017 to 2019, 1.25% for 2020; s. 2.4). The tax is for the year before: the 2025 declaration settles whether the 2026 bill is owed. It is due on the 10th business day of April (April 16 in 2026), with a 5% penalty if unpaid (ss. 2.5, 2.7), and is added to the property tax roll the year after if still unpaid (s. 2.9). Declaring: One declaration per property each year, made by one registered owner, by the 2nd business day of February (February 3 in 2026, for 2025), even when the home was lived in (ss. 4.5, 5.2). The instructions come with the advance property tax notice. Not declaring makes the home deemed vacant and taxed (s. 7.1), and the City issues a $250 by-law ticket. Late declarations: A late declaration is made as a notice of complaint: up to the 2nd business day of July of the year after the tax is due without penalty, then with a 5% penalty up to the 2nd business day of July of the fifth year after the year declared for (ss. 6.3, 6.4). Exemptions: No tax for a home empty over six months because: the owner died that year or the year before (s. 3.1); it is being redeveloped or renovated under a City permit issued that year, or a rezoning, development or heritage permit application is under review for empty land or a heritage building, carried on without unnecessary delay (s. 3.2); everyone who lived there is in hospital or long term or supportive care, for up to two years, or four where they may return (s. 3.3); the whole property changed hands that year, with property transfer tax paid or a listed exemption (s. 3.5); the owner, living outside Greater Vancouver, stayed there at least six months for full-time work that needed them there (s. 3.6), or used it from time to time for medical treatment, with a doctor's form (s. 3.11); a court or government order bars living in it (s. 3.7); it can only be used for parking or can't be built on (s. 3.8); a disaster or hazard outside the owner's control left it uninhabitable, for up to two years (s. 3.10); or it is a developer's new, never-lived-in unit on sale all year (s. 3.9). The strata rental restriction exemption ended with 2023 (s. 3.4). No exemption: A home empty because it was listed for sale and didn't sell owes the tax (the City's FAQ). A second home used for holidays, or a pied-à-terre, is empty in the by-law's terms unless someone makes it their principal residence or rents it. Audits and fines: The City may ask for information and evidence up to two years after the year declared for (ss. 4.7 to 4.9): ID, ICBC records, utility bills, tax returns, tenancy agreements and the like. Not answering makes the home deemed vacant (s. 7.1). A false declaration or false evidence is an offence fined $250 to $10,000, and up to $10,000 a day while it continues (ss. 5.3, 5.4, 8.2, 8.3). Disputes: A notice of complaint to the vacancy tax review officer, on an error by the City or in the declaration, by the 10th business day of April, or within 90 days of a supplementary notice; then a review by the vacancy tax review panel within 90 days of the officer's decision, which is final (ss. 6.2, 6.3, 6.12, 6.16). Buying: Buying the home exempts the year the transfer is registered (s. 3.5), but the seller declares for the year before: for a sale completing between January 1 and the February deadline, the seller must declare before completion (the City's FAQ). Unpaid tax stays with the property, so a new owner can inherit it, while fines for not declaring or a false declaration follow the owner who made it. The tax certificate shows whether a declaration was made, what was declared, an audit and any amount owing. The City suggests asking in the contract for a copy of the seller's declaration, a statutory declaration at completion that it is true, a warranty that the home wasn't vacant, and a holdback until the City decides. Beside the Province's tax: The Province's speculation and vacancy tax is separate: every owner declares for it by March 31, its rate turns on the owner's residency and income, and its exemptions differ. A Vancouver home can be exempt from one and owe the other.

Does Vancouver's Empty Homes Tax apply to a home I want to buy?

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