Stop FEDERAL "Home Equity Tax" Studies on Canadians' Primary Homes
Did you know the federal government's Canada Mortgage & Housing (CMHC) has TWICE paid grants (total of $450,000) to a UBC Vancouver-based public health professor, Dr. Paul Kershaw to support far-left, ideological "research" on new, punitive, additional, annual taxation on Canadians’ principal residences valued over $1M? This new tax would apply on top of existing annual property taxes and the BC wealth tax called "Additional School Tax".
DENIALS
- Prime Minister Trudeau said he wouldn't add another tax on your principal residence Dec. 19, 2021, as did former Finance Minister Bill Morneau.
- Former CMHC CEO Siddall insisted on Twitter multiple times that he WASN’T funding research into a new housing tax, first reported by an accredited media outlet, Blacklocks.ca with the second grant reported here. (screenshot of story below).
- The Winnipeg Sun wrote: "Reassurances from CMHC and from the Liberal cabinet that there will be no capital gains tax on Canadians’ homes are not worth the breath it takes to utter them." Remember, you're now required to report home sale on your tax return.
STEPUP ACTION
We launched a Freedom of Information request to gather national public feedback to UBC officials on this proposed tax. We'll keep you updated when those email records are reluctantly released by the university, which has already missed its 30-day response deadline. So much for public transparency.
EQUITY TAX HITS AVERAGE HOMEOWNERS IN METRO TORONTO & VANCOUVER
Modest homes, like duplexes, and townhomes as well as aging single family homes would pay this "equity" tax, not just "mansions". Greater Vancouver homes (including condos) are at $1.23M. The average Toronto home is now $1.1M. In ten years, a Toronto townhome paying $2,940 per year for that new surtax, plus interest if deferred,
could be on the hook for a nearly $40,000 extra tax bill, assuming no increase in home value. The "equity surtax" chart, taken from that federal grant-funded research, is provided.
Using our federal Home Equity Theft Tax Calculator you can enter your home value to see how much extra tax you'll be expected to pay per year (plus interest if you defer). (Our excel calculator can be downloaded and opened with Numbers (Mac) or Google sheets (free Excel alternative).
None of the various government tax measures have "fixed" housing affordability issues. These taxes have merely grown the bureaucracy, adding to your overall costs. Homeowners subject to any new "equity" tax will likely just add the cost to the sale price or not sell their home, reducing choice and supply for home buyers.
This tax also steals from YOUR retirement fund, kids' inheritance, future care home costs and more. If you're already paying a mortgage or line of credit on your home, you may not be able to even defer taxes, which forces you to sell your home. A vulnerable senior was recently taxed out of her home as the city foreclosed.
NO HOUSING SOLUTIONS, JUST TAX
Instead of applying real solutions like enabling more homes of all kinds for all budgets to be built or incentivizing rent-to-own options for renters, governments:
- add more taxes/regulations/red tape that make housing more costly to build/buy
- increase immigration to unheard-of levels of 400,000 per year with no plan to house all these new residents in our cities.
Had enough?
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- Sign our petition. Contact your MP.