BC Home Flipping Tax 

✅ What the tax does

• If a residential property (house, townhome, condo, etc.) is sold for a profit within 730 days (2 years) of purchase, the profit is subject to this tax. 
• Rate: 20% of net profit if sold within the first 365 days, then progressively decreases — tax doesn’t apply if held for more than 729 days. 

🧾 Who must pay it

• Any seller — individual, corporation, trust — anywhere (not just local or non-resident). 
• It also applies to presale contracts or assignments of residential properties. 

📅 What it means in practice

• If someone in Squamish buys a home and sells it within 2 years, they’d have to pay this tax on any profit — unless they qualify for an exemption. 
• For buyers and sellers (and agents) planning quick flips: it’s a real consideration now.

Here’s a summary of the current exemptions to the BC Home Flipping Tax — i.e. situations where the tax doesn’t apply (or may be waived) if the circumstances map to the exemption rules. Applies to all of BC (including Squamish). 

✅ Key Exemptions for BC Home Flipping Tax1. Life-Circumstance / Hardship Exemptions (requires filing a return) If the sale is triggered by certain life events or emergencies, the tax may be waived, even if the property was held under 730 days. Examples include:

• Death of the owner (or related individual), or if the sale is in anticipation of death. 
• Serious illness or disability (owner or related individual) that requires selling. 
• Eligible relocation for work or education (significant change in location). 
• Change in household membership (e.g. birth of child, moving with a relative, care situation). 
• Breakdown of marriage/common-law partnership (if separated for at least 90 days before sale). 
• Involuntary employment termination (job loss) — but not for self-employed individuals. 
• Threat to personal safety or other serious safety concerns requiring relocation. 
• Bankruptcy / insolvency, foreclosure/power-of-sale, or sale due to financial distress. 
• Destruction of the home (fire, flood, landslide, natural disaster, etc.), or expropriation by government. 

If you meet one of these “life circumstance” conditions, you must file a flipping-tax return in order to claim the exemption. 2. Exemptions for Builders / Developers or Renovation Activity If the seller is a builder or developer — meaning someone who regularly buys and sells real estate for development — the sale may be exempt.
Also applies if the sale involves significant building or renovating activity consistent with development. 3. Sales Between Related Persons (still requires filing) If the buyer and seller are “related persons” — e.g., family members (by blood, marriage, common-law, adoption) — the sale can be exempt. 

• In some cases, additional conditions apply: for example, both parties may need to have lived in the property as their primary residence for a minimum period for the exemption to apply. 

4. Entities & Property Types Automatically Exempt — No Return Required These situations automatically exempt a sale from the flipping tax without needing a return:

• The property is located on certain lands: e.g., Indigenous/reserve lands, lands under specific First Nations agreements. 
• The seller is an exempt entity (e.g., registered charity, government body, non-profit, certain housing corporations, etc.) 
• The property was acquired as a beneficiary of a real estate investment trust (REIT) 
• The property was used exclusively for a commercial purpose (not as a residence) during the entire ownership period 

📋 What This Means for Squamish 

• If a homeowner sells within 2 years but did so because of illness, relocation, separation, or other serious life events — there may be a valid exemption.
• Transfers between family, estate-related sales (after death), or sales by developers/renovators are other common exemption routes.
• Exemptions for entities, commercial-use properties, or properties on exempt lands generally won’t apply to standard residential resale in Squamish.