Vancouver, Oct. 07, 2024 (NEWSIC) — With the British Columbia election less than two weeks away, the BC Real Estate Association (BCREA) is calling for major housing tax reform aimed at increasing affordability and fairness in the province, the Association announced today.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As outlined on their housing policy resource hub<\/a> launched in the lead-up to the election, BCREA noted that BC housing taxation levels are some of the highest in the world and have risen sharply since 2016. This has had a significant negative effect on the cost of housing in the province. <\/p>\n\n\n\n BCREA recommendations include: <\/p>\n\n\n\n Trevor Koot, BCREA CEO, noted that a vital first step would be the review of the PTT, which now accounts for $1.95 billion in annual tax revenue for the province. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Property Transfer Tax was originally supposed to be a \u2018luxury tax,\u2019 but it\u2019s evolved into a heavy burden for all British Columbians,\u201d Koot said. \u201cThe PTT has far outlived its original purpose without ever facing a systematic review, and the time has come for that to change.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n While taxes are a necessary tool for funding public services, Koot added, they shouldn\u2019t be a barrier to homeownership or add unnecessary complexity to real estate transactions. The way forward is a long, hard look at the current policies, which must be undertaken by BC\u2019s next government to ensure fairness for British Columbians. <\/p>\n\n\n\n -30- <\/p>\n\n\n\n Learn More:<\/strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n For more information on housing tax reform and several other housing issues of concern, check out the BCREA Election resource hub<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n About BCREA<\/strong> Vancouver, Oct. 07, 2024 (NEWSIC) — With the British Columbia election less than two weeks…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-989401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-press-release"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsic.us\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/989401"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsic.us\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsic.us\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsic.us\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsic.us\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=989401"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newsic.us\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/989401\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":989402,"href":"https:\/\/newsic.us\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/989401\/revisions\/989402"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsic.us\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=989401"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsic.us\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=989401"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsic.us\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=989401"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
BCREA<\/a> is the provincial association for BC REALTORS\u00ae. As a champion for the real estate sector, BCREA advances REALTOR\u00ae professionalism and ensures the REALTOR\u00ae voice is heard, for the benefit of consumers and communities, across BC. By working in collaboration with the province’s real estate boards and associations<\/a>, our mission is to provide professional development opportunities, advocacy, economic and policy research, and standard forms so REALTORS\u00ae are trusted, respected, and proud of their profession.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/pre>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"