Canada’s first pre-sale register

The British Columbia government has launched the Condo and Strata Assignment Integrity Register (CSAIR) to crack down on tax evasion and improve fairness and transparency in B.C.’s real estate market.  It is widely acknowledged that the practice of pre-sale flipping has been lacking of transparency. It is unknown exactly how many assignment flips occur each year.  This new register will require developers to add or file assignments on new developments. This information will be gathered securely by the developer. The information that must be reported includes identity and citizenship of all parties to the assignment.

Developers are required to collect and report comprehensive assignment information through the register and file the report quarterly. The first quarterly assignment report, for Jan. 1 to March 31, 2019, is due to government April 30.  The B.C. government will use this information to ensure that people who assign condos are paying the appropriate income tax, capital gains and property transfer tax. Information gathered through the platform will inform future housing and tax policy.

To learn more about this, go to: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/housing-tenancy/real-estate-bc/condo-strata-assignment-integrity-register