Robbing Peter to pay Paul

The disingenuous Empty Homes Tax (“EHT”) was predicated on the theory that there were 25,000 empty homes in Vancouver.

When the city’s own data revealed that the actual number was closer to 2,500 empty homes -a mere drop in the bucket in a city with some 300,000 households, it made no difference, as the tax generated over $30,000,000 in revenue in its first year for the ever cash strapped city of Vancouver.

Now, scarcely three years old the EHT is set to rise to 1.25% with further increases on the horizon.

The tax amounts to legalized theft of 1% of the assessment value of a property for which a declaration has not been filed within the stipulated timeframe in the EHT bylaw. It’s irrelevant that the property may have been occupied during the previous year by the owner or a tenant. The offense of failing to file a form is what draws the tax penalty.

The use of the the tax to subsidize so called affordable housing is so insubstantial as to be meaningless. $25,000,000 to subsidize home building in a city where the average 1 bedroom condo is $630,000 might result in 40 new units, hardly worth the pat on the back that the mayor gives himself.

Rather than reigning in runaway spending and taxes -which have far outstripped population growth, the city of Vancouver carries on with its tax and spend socialist agenda as if it’s residents were made of money.

The latest tax proposal on the horizon is an empty storefront tax!!

If politicians were even half as good at solving problems as they are at inventing new taxes, we would have little to complain about.

1410 – 800 W. Pender St. Vancouver, BC, V6C 2V6 Tel: 604 682-1509 Fax: 604-682-3196 plc@pazderlaw.com www.pazderlaw.com

Questions? Call Kenneth Pazder or Melissa Valana (604-682-1509) at Pazder Law Corporation anytime for a free consultation.

#Taxes