Tax changes for British Columbia’s 2024-2025 budget.

The British Columbia budget is out, and there are a few changes that’ll impact BC residents. We've summarized them below.

The Climate Action Tax Credit has increased.

Most of Canada gets the federal Canada Carbon Rebate, but BC has its own program called the Climate Action Tax Credit.

As of July 1, 2024, there will be an increase to the maximum payment.

• Single adult: from $447 to $504
• Spouse/common law partner: from $223.50 to $252
• Child: from $111.50 to $126

Single parent families receive the spouse/common law partner amount for the first child in the family.

Temporary BC Family Benefit Bonus.

From July 2024 to June 2025, BC Family Benefit recipients will get a 25% increase in their monthly payments. They raised the income limit to qualify for this payment by 25%, providing an extra benefit. This means that over 70% of families in BC are now eligible for the bonus payment.

A new tax targeting home flipping.

Starting in January 2025, selling a house owned for less than 2 years may require paying a 20% tax. If you sell your property within a year, you'll pay a 20% tax. Between 1-2 years, the tax decreases to zero.

You’ll be able to exclude up to $20,000 when calculating your taxable income for provincial income tax purposes.

If you’re selling because of a change in life circumstances, like divorce, a death, disability, relocation of work, involuntary job loss, personal safety, or insolvency to name a few, you’ll be exempt from paying this tax.

Homebuyers will also see changes in property transfer tax.

Starting April 1, 2024, the threshold for the first-time home buyers’ exemption will increase from $500,000 to $835,000. The first $500,000 of the home purchase is completely exempt from the tax.

Also on April 1, 2024, the threshold for the newly built home exemption will increase from $750,000 to $1,100,000.

The provincial government has put a temporary measure into effect for January 1, 2025, to December 31, 2030, which will exclude purchases of new qualifying purpose-built rental buildings from the general property transfer tax.

They have extended a few tax credits that were set to expire.

• The Training Tax Credits for Employers has been extended for 3 more years, to the end of 2027.
• The Training Tax Credit for Individuals has been extended for 1 year to the end of 2025.
• The Shipbuilding and Ship Repair Industry Tax Credit has been extended for 2 years to the end of 2026.

If you have questions about how these changes might affect your taxes, book an appointment with an H&R Block Tax Expert today.