Vancouver asked to decrease Empty Homes Tax
Posted May 5, 2023 1:09 pm.
Last Updated May 5, 2023 1:11 pm.
Vancouver city council is being asked to consider reducing the Empty Homes Tax.
Staff are proposing a reduction from five per cent to three per cent for the 2023 vacancy reference year, with the overall goal of improving “the fairness and effectiveness” of the tax.
They note council approved an increase to the EHT to five per cent last year. At that time, staff were directed to “report back on how the EHT exemptions might be altered to improve fairness so that those with legitimate reasons for vacancy, and/or having a second property, are not penalized.”
Along with the reduction, staff are also recommending several other amendments to the bylaw.
One is to “provide a one-time exemption for the 2023 vacancy reference year for properties with strata rental restrictions, if the property was previously declared or determined exempt under Section 3.4 of the By-law for the 2022 vacancy reference year.”
Others are for council to approve an exemption for those who are unable to have their property occupied due to “a hazardous condition or disaster,” and an exemption for properties that are being used as secondary homes closer to medical treatment.
Since the Empty Homes Tax started in 2017, it has generated over $115 million in revenue for affordable housing projects in the city.
Staff say it has risen three times from the initial rate of one per cent, with the first increase to 1.25 per cent in 2020 and the second to three per cent in 2021.
