Are you buying your first home?

Good news! You may be exempt from paying Property Transfer Tax (PTT) on your purchase.

The First Time Home Buyers’ Program reduces or eliminates the amount of property transfer tax you pay when you purchase your first home. If you qualify for the program, you may be eligible for either a full or partial exemption from the tax.

If one or more of the purchasers don’t qualify, only the percentage of interest that the first time home buyer(s) have in the property is eligible.

For example, if you qualify and purchase a property with a fair market value of $400,000 with a person who doesn’t qualify you would still qualify. If you owned a 60% interest in the property, 60% of the tax amount would be eligible for the exemption.

How do I know if I qualify?

  • be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident
  • have lived in B.C. for 12 consecutive months immediately before the date you register the property or filed at least 2 income tax returns as a B.C. resident in the last 6 years
  • have never owned an interest in a principal residence anywhere in the world at any time
  • have never received a first time home buyers’ exemption or refund

and the property must:

  • be located in B.C.
  • only be used as your principal residence
  • have a fair market value of:
    • $475,000 or less if registered on or before February 21, 2017, or
    • $500,000 or less if registered on or after February 22, 2017
  • be 0.5 hectares (1.24 acres) or smaller

Helping First Time Home Buyers is one of our favourite things to do at Silver Law. We would love to assist you with the legalities of buying a home and we will make it easy for you every step of the way. Contact Us.