Details, timeline for changes to B.C. foreign homebuyers tax unclear
VANCOUVER — A man who lost thousands of dollars when British Columbia introduced a tax on foreigners buying homes says tweaks to the policy are a good step forward but the harm has already been done to his family.
Nic Benner and his family had just moved to the Vancouver area from Colorado for his job in the telecom industry when the tax came into effect and were surprised to find it would apply to deals that were signed before it was announced last summer.
Benner signed a contract last May for a new home in Langley where he and his wife planned to raise their four daughters. But the tax added about $80,000 to the price tag, which the family couldn’t afford.
“What the government had done was put us in a position, and I’m sure other families in a position, where there was no relief,” Benner said in an interview on Monday.