The provincial budget released this week shows no end in sight to the property transfer tax. In fact, the budget includes close to a billion dollars per year in revenue from the tax through 2017–18.
But at a question-and-answer session with the Surrey Board of Trade on Wednesday, Premier Christy Clark suggested it is in the government’s long-term plan to get rid of the tax.
"When we really start making a dent on our debt, we really want to start knocking down the Property Transfer Tax," Clark said at the event, as reported by The Surrey Leader. "It is absolutely part of our long-term plan to get rid of it."
The Globe and Mail reported that at a later news conference, Clark emphasized the “long-term” part of her previous statements, saying that in order to replace the lost revenue, “Government either needs to be a billion dollars smaller, taxes need to be a billion dollars more elsewhere, or there needs to be a billion dollars in new revenue from economic growth.”
"I wouldn't characterize it as a promise," she said. "I would say it’s something that we would like to do."
