Editor:
How does it make law-abiding British Columbians feel, knowing that foreign nationals that do not pay taxes in our country are allowed to forgo paying capital gains taxes on their property because the B.C. provincial government is refusing to collect data?
I can tell you that it personally makes me angry, and concerned.
This very issue came up when the foreign-buyers tax was proposed last year, but because the legislation was rushed through we were left with a strange situation where sellers are asked if they would voluntarily hand over a large percentage of the proceeds of the sale to our government.
In a world with an underground economy and questionable foreign money coming into our market, we should not be surprised when sellers do not tell the whole truth, especially when there is no oversight, enforcement, investigation or consequences.
The fact that this leaves the purchaser legally responsible to pay the tax to CRA should make this a priority.
People with no ties to Canada skip the country with money and leave the liability with law-abiding citizens.
The CRA will do its part, but without the participation of the province, their hands are tied.
Fred Partridge, Surrey
