Jerome Tsang Notary Public
205-5704 Balsam Street V6M 4B9 Vancouver, BC, Canada

When a non-resident Seller disposes a real property in Canada, the profit from the sale of the property is, in most circumstances, subject to capital gain. If the Canadian Revenue Agency (CRA) cannot collect its fair share of tax that is supposedly remitted by the Seller, then the Buyer is on the hook and becomes liable for any tax owed by the non-resident Seller. In order to avoid such situation in a purchase and sale transaction, the Seller’s legal representative must hold...back 25% of the sale price for personal use property, or 25% of the land value and 50% of improvement value, prorated from current assessed values to actual price, for income generating property, until a clearance certificate is issued by the CRA. In order to obtain the clearance certificate, the non-resident will need to retain the service of an accountant to apply such certificate. The accountant will work closely with the Seller’s legal representative to ensure that the tax resulted in the disposition of the property is paid to the CRA from the holdback amount. This process can take up to 4-6 months. Complication can arise if there is a mortgage on title. Since the holdback amount is quite significant, there is a chance that the sale proceeds after the holdback is not enough to pay off the mortgage. In such cases, the non-resident Seller will need to come up with extra funds from other sources to pay off the mortgage. To minimize the chance of this happening, the Seller can apply for the Clearance Certificate prior to the completion date, however, this can only be done if there is a subject free contract of purchase and sale. Since the process of obtaining the certificate can take up to 4-6 months, so in an ideal situation there would be a 4-6 months lead time between subject removal and the completion date. In most cases that we see nowadays, subject removal and completion is only a few weeks apart, sometimes days. Therefore, if you foresee such issue happening, please discuss with your lawyer or notary, and your accountant about your situation to ensure you have sufficient funds to pay off your mortgage on completion.

When you are looking for a new home or an investment property, you will start by looking at the location and the appearance of the property. But have you thought about the legal status of it and see if there anything on title that might affect the property? Read the article below to find out more about title search.

A Will can serve many purposes. Two important reasons of having a will are determining custody of any children under 19 and property distribution. Every family's dynamic is different. The fact is, not all families live in harmony. There are many instances where one would decide to provide little support to or disinherit a certain family member in his or her Will. In this situation, the Will can potentially be challenged by the deceased person’s spouse or children in a will’s variation lawsuit. Find out the differences between a Will maker's Legal and Moral obligations.

Make a Will Week 2018 is here!

Common Mistakes of POA: While there are pre-printed Power of Attorney forms available from websites or legal stationers, these forms are not tailor made to be suitable for all situations. Check out the post to learn more about the mistakes of POA.

What's the difference between Joint Tenancy and Tenants in Common?

BC HOMEOWNER GRANT THRESHOLD RAISED TO $1.65M

The new Speculation Tax will target owners of residential property in B.C. who do not pay taxes in the province and owners who leave their properties vacant. Tax rate will be 0.5% of taxable assessed value for the 2018 tax year and 2% thereafter, and is forecasted raise $200 million each year. The tax will apply expansively in Metro Vancouver, Fraser Valley, Capital and Nanaimo Regional Districts, and municipalities of Kelowna and West Kelowna.

Planning to travel out of the country with your child/children? Make sure you have the right documents needed!

Budget 2018 has implemented a new plan for Homes in B.C.

Property Transfer Tax (PTT) is one of the biggest closing costs when you are buying a property. It is basically a land registration tax paid by the buyer(s) to the Province of British Columbia. Effective February 21st 2018, few changes have been made to the Property Transfer Tax.

Last year, the City of Vancouver implemented an annual tax on empty or under-utilized residential properties called the Empty Homes Tax. Every owner of residential property in Vancouver is required to submit a property status declaration each year to determine if their property is subject to the tax. Read more: http://bit.ly/2CDcCo3