(B.C. Premier David Eby, centre, with Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon at a press conference in Vancouver on Feb. 26, 2024.
B.C. Premier David Eby has no plans to establish an independent office for AML policy and enforcement; and a new house flipping tax is no ‘silver bullet.’
by Graeme Wood
February 27, 2024
B.C. Premier David Eby has poured cold water on the formation of an independent anti-money laundering (AML) commissioner responsible for monitoring risks and the government agencies tasked to combat them.
“We don’t have any imminent plans around establishing a money laundering czar (commissioner) but we are working closely with police, the Ministry of Finance, Revenue Canada and the land title office to make sure that information is as available as possible and effective as possible in fighting crime,” Eby told Glacier Media at a press conference Monday with Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon.
Eby held the conference to provide an overview of his government’s recent housing policies aimed to combat speculation, namely the new house flipping tax proposed in the 2024 budget.
The tax is to be imposed on a sliding scale of up to 20 per cent of capital gains on all residential property sales (and condo assignments) made within two years of an initial purchase. Exemptions are bountiful, including death, divorce, changes to employment and family membership and for renovations/construction that add at least one additional unit.
House flipping was considered a means to launder money in real estate, the Commission of Inquiry into Money Laundering in B.C. heard from experts between 2020 and 2022.
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