BC property transfer tax exemptions explained: the first-time home buyer exemption, the newly built home exemption, related-individual transfers, and the 20% foreign-buyer tax.
Property transfer tax is usually the largest closing cost on a BC purchase — but several exemptions can reduce or eliminate it. This covers the main BC property transfer tax exemptions: the first-time home buyer exemption, the newly built home exemption, and the related-individual exemption, plus the additional foreign-buyer tax.
For how the tax itself is calculated, see how much property transfer tax is in BC or run your price through our property transfer tax calculator; for the full overview including the legal process, see our property transfer tax in BC page. The exemptions themselves:
The First Time Homebuyer Exemption is available to those who have never owned an interest in a principal residence anywhere in the world, 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, and have never received a first time home buyers’ exemption or refund. The property must also be located in B.C., only be used as your principal residence, have a fair market value of $500,000 or less, and be 0.5 hectares or smaller. Note that there is a partial PTT exemption from the tax for qualifying properties with a fair market value over $500,000.
The New Construction Exemption is available to those who are Canadian citizen or permanent resident, planning to use property as principal residence. To qualify for this PTT exemption, the property must have a fair market value of $750,000 or less and be 0.5 hectares or smaller. Note that there is a partial property transfer tax exemption for qualifying properties with a fair market value between $750,000 and $800,000.
The Related Individual Exemption is available to related individuals, defined as a spouse, child, grandchild, great-grandchild, parent, grandparent or great-grandparent, the spouse of your child, grandchild or great-grandchild, and the child, parent, grandparent or great-grandparent of your spouse. The property must be one where one of the parties must have used the property as a principal residence in the past six months, the building is designed to accommodate three families or less, the improvements on the land are classified as residential by BC Assessment, and the land is 0.5 hectares or smaller. Note that a sister, brother, uncle, aunt, niece or nephew are not considered to be related individuals for the purposes of this PTT exemption.
PTT is one of two main taxes on a BC purchase. New-construction buyers also pay 5% federal GST, which has its own first-time-buyer rebate worth up to $50,000 (different program, different math). The two rebates are separate and can stack on a qualifying first-time-buyer new-construction file. For a precise estimate on a specific price, use our GST calculator, and read our explainer on the FTHB GST rebate for eligibility and worked examples.
Written by Lime Law Corporation. This article is general information about BC law as of January 26, 2023. It is not legal advice. If you have a specific matter, contact us — and please do not rely on a blog post in place of advice on your file.
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