The Newly Built Home Exemption reduces or eliminates the amount of property transfer tax you pay when you purchase a newly built home. This is a great news since, regardless of being a first-time buyer or not, if you are buying a newly built home or condominium, you will be exempt of PTT if the value is less than $750,000. However there is still GST, but there are rebates and exemptions for first-time buyers.
A newly built home includes:
- a house constructed and affixed on a parcel of vacant land
- a new apartment in a newly built condominium building
- a manufactured home that is placed and affixed on a parcel of vacant land
- an already constructed house that is removed from one parcel of land and affixed to another parcel of vacant land, as long as the house hasn’t been occupied since it was placed on the new parcel of vacant land
- a house resulting from the division of an existing improvement affixed to a parcel of land that was also subdivided, as long as this house hasn’t been occupied since the subdivision of the parcel
- a house converted from an existing improvement on the land. The previous improvement couldn’t have been used as residential (e.g. a warehouse converted into apartments).
If you qualify for the exemption, you may be eligible for either a full or partial exemption from the tax.
If you paid property transfer tax when you purchased vacant land and you now have a newly built home on the land, you may be eligible for a refund of the property transfer tax you paid.
The exemption doesn’t apply to the additional property transfer tax on residential transfers to foreign nationals or foreign corporations.
Do I Qualify?
To qualify, the property (land and improvement) must be registered at the land title office after February 16, 2016 and you must be:
- an individual
- a Canadian citizen or permanent resident (you will be asked to provide your Social Insurance Number (SIN) and your birth date)
and the property must:
- be located in B.C.
- only be used as your principal residence
- have a fair market value of $750,000 or less
- be 0.5 hectares (1.24 acres) or smaller
You may qualify for a partial exemption, if the property:
- has a fair market value greater than $750,000 and less than $800,000
- is larger than 0.5 hectares
- has another building on the property other than the principal residence
Find out the amount of your exemption if you qualify.
If you don’t qualify because you are not a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, but you become one within 12 months of when the property is registered, you may apply for a refund of the property transfer tax. However, if you’re a foreign national or foreign corporation, you can’t be refunded any additional property transfer tax you may have paid.
