Urgent: New 15% tax on house purchases

[Matt B.]

Hi all, i heard from someone that in an effort to stop a home shortage and to stop the prices of homes from surging, the US government has imposed a 15% sales tax on buyers purchasing a home. Has anyone else heard of this?

[George Holmes]

British Columbia charges a Property Purchase Tax on all property transactions -1% of the first $200,000; 2% of the next $1,800,000 and 3% on the amount above $2 million.  Effective August 2, 2016, the provincial government will collect an additional 15% purchase tax on property purchases by foreign nationals in metro Vancouver only.  BC residents will not be charged this additional tax. Also, this tax is not charged in the remaining areas of the province. The benchmark price of a SFD in the Vancouver market now exceeds $1.5 million.