On Thursday, May 30th, the federal government revealed it had found over $1 billion in new tax revenue. Where did the Feds get the money? From real estate. Four years of drawn-out, complicated CRA audits saw almost 42,000 files reviewed in the key housing markets of B.C. and Ontario. The results netted over $100 million just in penalties based on flimsy tax compliance done in real estate transactions. The Feds are doing what they can to shake this ‘money tree,’ and have allocated some $50 million in additional spending to further these audits and to root out more non-compliance. This is on top of hundreds of million of already announced investments in the CRA which started four years ago, all aimed at rooting out tax dodging and generating more revenue for Ottawa to spend without raising taxes.
Canada has established itself as a one of the real estate money laundering hotspots of the world. Some $50 billion was laundered across the country in 2018, with just over $7 billion laundered just in B.C. This is a very rough estimate, as it is impossible to put an exact figure on all of the washed monies. This represents a drop of the many trillions of dollars of ‘dirty money’ floating around international markets. Canada offers anonymity to real, or ‘beneficial’ real estate owners, just like notorious tax havens like the British Virgin Islands, the Isle of Man, or the Seychelles. We are recognized for some of the weakest money-laundering laws in the world. And the truth is, our economic stability and quality of life depend on washing dirty money. Without it, the real estate lobby, the big banks, and governments across the country would be starved of business, capital, and revenues to spend. We’re all complicit.
Canada is one of the few countries in the world where there are virtually no restrictions on foreigners buying real estate here. The system depends upon an openness to foreign capital and as many high value transactions occurring as possible. In rapidly growing Thailand, for example, it is almost impossible for a foreigner to own a controlling stake in land or housing. There are very few ways to get around Thai property rules, so Canadians who’d like a beach house in Thailand have to jump through many, many hoops to pull off a buy. In New Zealand, previously lax rules for foreign ownership are being tightened and New Zealand government was elected in 2017 on a campaign of restricting foreign ownership. Prime land in our country is open for their world to buy.