B.C. extends HST rebate for new homes
The B.C. government has confirmed it will end the harmonized sales tax on April 1, 2013, and is extending the provincial rebate threshold on new home purchases from $525,000 to $850,000 in the transition period.
The finance ministry says the new rebate threshold means 90 per cent of new homes in B.C. will not see increased purchase prices from HST during the transition period. The new threshold for rebates is also extended to secondary and vacation homes worth more than $850,000.
The higher threshold means the rebate to new home purchasers is now worth up to $42,500, and builders will continue to receive a portion of HST input credits for homes constructed under HST but sold after B.C. returns to its former provincial sales tax. Buyers of those homes will pay a transitional sales tax of two per cent.
The temporary housing transition tax and transition rebates will be in place for two years, until March 15, 2015. Resale housing is exempt from HST.
Finance Minister Kevin Falcon said the transitional tax breaks are to ease the impact of HST and the transition back to PST for builders and buyers.
Since the HST was rejected in a referendum last year, home builders have said buyers were increasingly deciding to wait out the HST period before investing in new high-end homes.
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