
Chinese Envoy Challenges Vancouver Home Tax as Fallout Spreads - ultrasaurus
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-08-12/chinese-envoy-challenges-vancouver-home-tax-as-fallout-spreads
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somedangedname
"...receiving calls from distressed Chinese students locked in contracts to
buy homes but unable to drum up the extra cash to pay the tax."

1) Abusing the terms of a student visa 2) ...to help someone else flout home
ownership laws 3) ...to park money where it won't get taxed.

I really feel for them.

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Canada
1) In what way is purchasing property an abuse of the terms? Student visa
holders are not prohibited from owning real estate.

2) What home ownership laws are being flouted?

[edit]

3) Can you explain how that works?

The fact is that there's 10x as many upper middle class people in China than
there are people in all of Canada.

If you don't want foreign ownership of property then fine, push for that
policy. But this tax is stupid, and screwing people over by suddenly changing
the rules is wrong.

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NotSammyHagar
There are multiple things wrong with what has gone on in Vancouver. 1\. Supply
has gone down to where there is a huge undersupply. People can't afford the
houses, the short supply causes prices to live there. Regular people are
priced out. 2\. People see good numbers of houses that are sold but no one
lives in them. This is what should be taxed imho. The reason this is a
negative is that using the stock of houses that are there is a public good,
that matters when there's a huge undersupply. 3\. Sure, there's some fear of
"outsiders", Chinese people being an unending supply of big money coming in
and screwing things up. Vancouver will become like SF and Seattle, fewer
people will be able to be able to live in the city. Middle class will be
priced out.

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Canada
The tax itself is a bad idea. If they were going to go this route the tax
should have been based on permanent resident status and not citizenship.

That the province failed to exempt existing contracts that have not yet closed
is an absolute disgrace.

