B.C. launches condo pre-sale registry
Steve Randall
Canadian Real Estate Wealth
The identity and citizenship of all parties in a condo or strata transaction in British Columbia will be listed in a new register.
The BC finance minister confirmed Monday that the provincial government has launched the Condo and Strata Assignment Integrity Register (CSAIR) with the aim of fighting tax evasion and adding more transparency to BC real estate transactions.
“For too long, speculators and tax evaders have been taking advantage of loopholes in our real estate market, driving up prices and shutting British Columbians out of the market,” said Carole James, Minister of Finance. “B.C.’s housing market needs to work for British Columbians. With this new register, we are leading the country in real estate transparency and taking real action to moderate the condo market. We’re already starting to see results in Metro Vancouver.”
The gap in information caused by pre-sale condo flipping will be closed with this new register as developers will collect and report information including identity and citizenship of all parties.
First quarter reporting
The register is a secure online portal via myLTSA Enterprise and developers are required to provide information from the first quarter of 2019 by April 30 and pay a $195 fee per assignment.
“The condo and strata assignment register is a step in the right direction by creating another tool for transparency and closing tax evasion loopholes in the real estate market,” said James Cohen with Transparency International Canada and Canadians for Tax Fairness. “We hope to see the B.C. government continue this very important path of shining a light on real estate, particularly bringing transparency to anonymous beneficial owners of corporations and trusts, so they are not a soft target for tax evaders and money launderers.”
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