Are presale condo assignments taxed in BC?
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Direct answer
Yes — three tax overlays apply when you assign a presale-condo purchase contract before completion. (1) GST: effective May 7, 2022, every assignment of a new or substantially renovated residential property is subject to 5% GST under the federal Excise Tax Act (Budget Implementation Act, 2022). The assignor charges 5% GST on the assignment fee (consideration over and above the deposit refund) and remits to CRA; the deposit portion paid back to the original purchaser is excluded from the GST base. (2) Income tax: CRA generally treats assignment profit as 100% business income (NOT a 50% capital gain) where the assignor never intended to occupy. The "intended occupancy" test is fact-dependent — documented intent (mortgage pre-approval for owner-occupancy, school enrolment, moving plans) materially affects the audit outcome. The federal anti-flipping rule (365-day deemed-business-income presumption) further hardens this for short holds. (3) BC SVT: an unfinished presale unit is exempt from Speculation and Vacancy Tax while uncompleted; SVT applies in subsequent years if the completed unit is not occupied per SVT rules. BC Home Flipping Tax generally does NOT apply to pre-title assignments but applies if you take title and then flip within 730 days. CPA + tax-lawyer review is essential before assigning.
Primary sources
- GST/HST Info Sheet GI-120: Assignment of a Purchase and Sale Agreement for a New House or Condominium Unit · CRA · retrieved
- Budget Implementation Act, 2022, No. 1 — Royal Assent · Government of Canada · retrieved
Backed by Fact Bank entries
- BC presale-condo assignment tax treatment — How CRA and BC treat the assignment (sale) of a presale-condo purchase contract before completion.
- Federal anti-flipping rule (deemed business income) — Sales of residential property held less than 365 consecutive days are deemed business income (100% inclusion rate; no Principal Residence Exemption available) unless a qualifying life-event exception applies (marriage breakdown, death, work relocation ≥40km, etc.
- BC Speculation and Vacancy Tax rates + credit (2026 tax year) — BC Speculation and Vacancy Tax rates and the tax credit that offsets them.
- Federal GST New Housing Rebate — A federal GST/HST rebate available to buyers of new or substantially-renovated owner-occupied housing.
Verified sources (4)· re-verified 2026-08-02Click to expand
Every claim on this page is sourced to a primary government, regulator, or industry-association URL. We re-verify quarterly; the verification dates below show when each source was last confirmed against the live government page.
- CRAretrieved 2026-08-02GST/HST Info Sheet GI-120: Assignment of a Purchase and Sale Agreement for a New House or Condominium Unithttps://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/forms-publications/publications/gi-120/assignment-a-purchase-sale-agreement-a-new-house-condominium-unit.html
- Government of Canadaretrieved 2026-08-02GST/HST Notice 323 — Treatment of Assignment Saleshttps://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/forms-publications/publications/notice323/proposed-gst-hst-treatment-assignment-sales.html
- CRAretrieved 2026-08-02Principal residence and other real estate (flipped property rules)https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/individuals/topics/about-your-tax-return/tax-return/completing-a-tax-return/personal-income/line-12700-capital-gains/principal-residence-other-real-estate.html
- BC Governmentretrieved 2026-08-02Speculation and vacancy tax exemptionshttps://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/taxes/speculation-vacancy-tax
bc.presale.assignment_tax_treatment · v1View in Codex →Verified sources (1)· re-verified 2026-08-02Click to expand
Every claim on this page is sourced to a primary government, regulator, or industry-association URL. We re-verify quarterly; the verification dates below show when each source was last confirmed against the live government page.
- CRAretrieved 2026-08-02Principal residence and other real estate (flipped property rules)https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/individuals/topics/about-your-tax-return/tax-return/completing-a-tax-return/personal-income/line-12700-capital-gains/principal-residence-other-real-estate.html
ca.anti_flipping_rule · v1View in Codex →Verified sources (5)· re-verified 2026-08-08Click to expand
Every claim on this page is sourced to a primary government, regulator, or industry-association URL. We re-verify quarterly; the verification dates below show when each source was last confirmed against the live government page.
- BC Governmentretrieved 2026-08-08Speculation and Vacancy Tax — tax rateshttps://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/taxes/speculation-vacancy-tax/how-tax-works/tax-rates
- BC Governmentretrieved 2026-08-08Speculation and Vacancy Tax credit for B.C. residentshttps://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/taxes/speculation-vacancy-tax/tax-credits/bc-residents
- BC Governmentretrieved 2026-08-08Taxable areas for the Speculation and Vacancy Taxhttps://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/taxes/speculation-vacancy-tax/how-tax-works/taxable-areas
- BC Governmentretrieved 2026-08-08Updates to Speculation and Vacancy Tax — 2027 rate increasehttps://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/taxes/tax-updates/updates-taxes-tax-credits/speculation-and-vacancy-tax-updates
- BC Governmentretrieved 2026-08-08Budget 2025 tax changes — speculation and vacancy tax rates double and the resident credit rises to $4,000https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/taxes/tax-updates/budget-changes/2025-budget-tax-changes
bc.svt.rates_2026 · v4View in Codex →Verified sources (3)· re-verified 2026-05-19Click to expand
Every claim on this page is sourced to a primary government, regulator, or industry-association URL. We re-verify quarterly; the verification dates below show when each source was last confirmed against the live government page.
- CRAretrieved 2026-05-19GST/HST New Housing Rebate (RC4028)https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/forms-publications/publications/rc4028/gst-hst-new-housing-rebate.html
- Government of Canadaretrieved 2026-05-19Excise Tax Act, s. 254 — New housing rebatehttps://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/e-15/section-254.html
- CRAretrieved 2026-05-19First-Time Home Buyers' GST/HST Rebatehttps://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/businesses/topics/gst-hst-businesses/gst-hst-rebates/first-time-home-buyers-gst-hst-rebate.html
ca.gst.new_housing_rebate · v1View in Codex →Related questions
See also
