B.C. details home-flipping tax, slated to begin 2025

The B.C. government is sharing more details of its proposed “flipping tax” which it outlined last week in its 2024 budget.

Less than a week after tabling the budget that focused, in part, on housing affordability, B.C. Premier David Eby and Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon shared Monday that the legislation to introduce the home-flipping tax will be introduced in spring 2024.

“Families shouldn’t have to compete with house-flipping investors when they’re trying to buy a home,” said Eby. “This tax will deter speculators and give families looking for a place to live an advantage in our housing market.”

The province notes that, if passed, the legislation will take effect as of Jan. 1, 2025.

“At that time, any home sold within two years of purchase will be taxed, with the revenue funding new homes. Exemptions to the home-flipping tax will be available to people who face unavoidable life changes, including death and divorce, job relocation or loss, and people who are adding to B.C.’s housing supply,” the ministry said in a statement.

The province says homes sold within the first year will face a tax rate of 20 per cent of the profit, declining to zero per cent over the second year.

Approximately seven per cent of homes sold in B.C. between 2020 and 2022 were resold within two years, the government notes.

“The flipping tax complements other measures B.C. has taken to discourage housing speculation, including a speculation and vacancy tax, which is estimated to have freed up at least 20,000 homes in Metro Vancouver alone,” the province explained.