How much property transfer tax will I pay on a BC property?

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1% of the price up to $200,000, 2% up to $2 million and 3% above, paid once when the transfer is registered: $14,000 on $800,000, before any exemption. It isn't the yearly property tax. Look up the address or PID on PlaceDossier to see the record for that lot. The rate: 1% of the fair market value up to $200,000, 2% of the part from $200,000 to $2 million and 3% of the part above $2 million, plus 2% more on residential value over $3 million (Property Transfer Tax Act ss. 3 (1), 3.01 (4)). Two transfers of the same land registered within 6 months are taxed as one, so splitting a purchase doesn't lower the rate (s. 3 (2)). Paying it: The tax is due when the transfer is registered. The buyer, or their lawyer or notary, files a property transfer tax return with the application to register, and claims any exemption on it (s. 2 (1)); most transfers are done by a lawyer or notary. First-time home buyers: No tax on the first $500,000 of the price, so up to $8,000 off, for a Canadian citizen or permanent resident who has lived in BC for the year before (or filed 2 BC income tax returns in the last 6 years), has never owned a principal residence anywhere and never had the exemption (ss. 4 (1), 5 (1.01)). It applies in full up to $835,000 and shrinks to nothing at $860,000 (s. 5 (1.1)). The buyer must move in within 92 days and live there for the first year, or pay the tax back (ss. 8, 9). Newly built homes: No general tax on a newly built home that has never been lived in, bought by a Canadian citizen or permanent resident as the first registration since it was finished, up to $1,100,000, shrinking to nothing at $1,150,000 (ss. 12.01, 12.02). The buyer must move in within 92 days and live there for the first year (s. 12.05). The two exemptions can't both be claimed on one purchase (s. 12.10). A rural lot: On a lot over 0.5 ha, either exemption covers only the home and the share of the land that 0.5 ha is of the whole lot, and on a smaller lot with other buildings (a shop, a barn, a rental cabin) only the home and the land (ss. 6, 12.03; our reading). On an acreage the saving is less than the calculator shows: your lawyer or notary works out the split. Family transfers: A transfer to a related individual can be exempt when the land is the principal residence of either of them, a recreational residence (a cabin used by the family) or a family farm, for a farm to a sibling too (s. 14 (3) (a), (b)). Each has its own conditions. Buyers who aren't Canadian: A foreign entity or a taxable trustee pays an additional 20% on residential property in Metro Vancouver, the Capital, Central Okanagan, Fraser Valley and Nanaimo regional districts (s. 2.02; Property Transfer Tax Regulation ss. 17.01, 17.02). Separately, a federal law bars most people who aren't Canadian citizens or permanent residents from buying residential property inside a census metropolitan area or agglomeration, a town of about 10,000 or more and its surroundings (Prohibition on the Purchase of Residential Property by Non-Canadians Regulations s. 3 (1)); extended in 2024 to January 1, 2027, so check whether it still applies. Selling within two years: A home sold within two years of buying it can owe the Province's home flipping tax, a separate tax on the seller's gain (our summary of the Province's page).

How much property transfer tax will I pay on a BC property?

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