Another increase to Vancouver’s empty homes tax has been proposed

Another increase is being proposed to Vancouver’s empty homes tax.

Mayor Kennedy Stewart has announced plans to up the levy from its current three per cent to five per cent.

“My move to triple the empty homes tax in 2020 is on pace to deliver more than $32 million for affordable housing while helping return more than 4,000 homes to locals,” he said. “But despite this success, we must do more to fight speculation and make sure we put local residents first.”

Council is expected to debate the proposal at meetings scheduled for April 26 and 27.

Good news! My move to triple the empty homes tax puts more homes back on the market.

Preliminary data from the 2021 empty homes tax shows a decline in the number of vacant properties and a doubling of revenue to fund affordable housing.#vanpoli pic.twitter.com/rm2OD7RtSR

— Kennedy Stewart (@kennedystewart) April 11, 2022

According to the mayor’s office, data released this week “showed a decline in the number of vacant properties.” It also notes an increase in revenue — double — when it comes to declared properties to fund affordable housing.

Raising the tax was a previous election promise made by Stewart. His last proposal to up the fee was backed by council in November 2020 for the 2021 tax year.

Stewart says there are still “hundreds of homes declared vacant, and thousands more empty homes claiming exemptions.” He adds that while the empty homes tax increase will serve one purpose, more audits and inspections need to be done to “further clamp down on speculators.”

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Failing to declare by the deadline can result in a $250 ticket, as well as your property being deemed vacant and the tax being applied. The current three per cent figure is based on the assessed taxable value of the property for the year.

The City of Vancouver says it performed 722 compliance audits in 2020. Though non-compliance numbers are not yet available for that year, the city notes 5.5 per cent of the 892 properties audited in 2019 were deemed to be in non-compliance.

Meanwhile, Stewart says he expects “unanimous support from council” on his increase proposal.