Do I pay GST when I buy a house or a lot in BC?

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Accepted Answer

Not on a used home or most land an individual sells; yes, 5%, on a builder's new or gutted and rebuilt home and on land sold in a business, with rebates that give a first-time buyer all of it back up to $1 million. The federal GST is 5% in BC, with no provincial part since the HST ended. It falls on new housing and on land sold in a business, and leaves out the resale of a home lived in and most sales of land by an individual. Whether it applies turns on who sells and what was done to the property, not on its zone, so the listing alone doesn't settle it. Look up the address or PID on PlaceDossier to see the record for that lot. A used home: The sale of a home by an owner who isn't its builder is exempt: an individual who built, renovated or bought a home to live in, not as a business, isn't a builder, so a resale house carries no GST, and a home office or bed and breakfast in it doesn't change that while the home is mostly lived in (the CRA's info sheet GI-004). A new or substantially renovated home: A house sold by its builder is taxable, and so is one gutted and rebuilt: a substantial renovation means 90% or more of the interior's livable space was removed or replaced (the CRA's guide RC4028). Someone who builds or substantially renovates to sell or rent the house is a builder, and owes GST on its fair market value once it's lived in even without a sale (Excise Tax Act s. 191; our summary). Ask whether a builder's price includes the GST and assigns you the rebate. A lot sold by an individual: Most sales of vacant land by an individual are exempt: land kept for personal use, either part of a parcel split for the first time into only two, and a lot sold to a relative or a former spouse for their personal use. They are taxable when the land was used mostly in a business, sold in the course of a business, or cut into more than two lots sold to people who aren't relatives, as a developer's are (the CRA's info sheet GI-003; Excise Tax Act Schedule V Part I s. 9). Farmland is usually taxable, with a few exempt cases (GI-003). Land sold by a business: A lot sold by a company, a developer or anyone selling land as a business is taxable. A buyer registered for GST pays the tax on its own return instead of to the seller (GI-003), so the contract should say which applies. The new housing rebate: A buyer or owner-builder of a new or substantially renovated home they'll live in can get back 36% of the GST, up to $6,300, on a home under $350,000, less up to $450,000 and none from $450,000 (the CRA's GST/HST News No. 122, April 2026). An owner-builder claims on forms GST191 and GST191-WS, once per house, generally within two years (RC4028). The first-time home buyers' rebate: A first-time buyer, 18 or over, a citizen or permanent resident who with their spouse hasn't lived in a home they owned in that year or the four before, can get back all the GST on a new or substantially renovated home up to $1 million, less up to $1.5 million and none from it. The agreement with the builder must be signed, or an owner-built home begun, on or after March 20, 2025 and before 2031, and the home finished before 2036; it's once in a lifetime for a couple (the CRA's first-time home buyers' rebate pages; Bill C-4, royal assent March 13, 2026, as News No. 122 reports). What it means for a buyer: On a resale house or a lot an individual sells, expect no GST. On a new house, a gutted and rebuilt one, a developer's lot or a farm, ask before you sign whether the price includes GST, who claims the rebate, and what you'd pay if you don't qualify. Property transfer tax is a separate, provincial tax on the same purchase.

Do I pay GST when I buy a house or a lot in BC?

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Before you buy: who to ask