[thenewwazoo]

I wonder what the cost is to acquire a company incorporated in Canada and if the new tax takes those kinds of shenanigans into account. Here in California, buying a company that owns property is much cheaper in Prop 13 terms than buying property.

[vivekd]

Canadian corporations have to have a certain % of the board as Canadian residents so I don't think we'll be seeing too much of that sort of fraud. At the same time this tax seems like a band aid solution taking the politically easy solution of blaming foreigners rather than looking at the structural problems of low interest rates combined with government regulations and groups preventing the construction of new housing.

I haven't been to Vancouver too often but I know here in Toronto you can get into the downtown core and still see rows of single family homes . . . which doesn't make much sense for a city this size. The city core has gone towards building expensive million dollar homes rather than high rises that could support many many families.

[lstamour]

Actually, I think the rules are more flexible than requiring Canadian residency. You've a different tax requirement if you're not Canadian-controlled, though. And they do, I think, tax heavily on investment income in businesses, but not so much land if it's required for the business.

It's certainly an interesting idea. Might depend on which jurisdiction you've incorporated under, whether provincial or federal....

[charlesdm]

Probably negligible, in comparison to paying the 15% tax. There's always a loophole. Incorporating a Canadian company is easy enough, especially given most properties tend to already be held through SPVs. In most countries you have to pay local capital gains tax on properties anyway.

To combat holding properties through companies, one would have to look at the ultimate beneficial owner of a corporation, which can often be hard to do / verify.