Dear Editor:
Re: Vacancy Tax Welcome, Jan. 23 editorial viewpoint.
Typical. Let’s fix it by taxing it. Fifty per cent of our income goes to taxes. Some people have trouble affording housing; I know I did when I struggled to buy my first home 48 years ago. So let’s make it just a little more difficult by adding another layer of red tape. Higher taxes are not the answer and will not solve housing issues. I suppose that the additional employees required to administer and enforce these enlightened tax laws might help reduce unemployment figures, thereby creating the ability of more home-buying, but the costs incurred for administration and enforcement will probably not be covered by the added vacancy tax income.
David Hill
North Vancouver
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Dear Editor:
Re: Vacancy Tax Welcome, Jan. 23 editorial viewpoint.
Welcome? I doubt it.
The only people who would welcome this [speculation and vacancy tax] would be those that don’t own their residence. For the rest of us this is yet another baroque tax scheme designed to erode the middle class. It doesn’t make sense. With the average house price north of $1 million, the cost to service a mortgage is at least $4,000 per month. That doesn’t include taxes and the myriad ancillary costs associated with home ownership (strata fees, etc.). So let’s say conservatively that a renter would have to pay close to $5,000 a month for a landlord to just break even.
Is that affordable? I don’t think so.
The fact that people like me who worked for 25 years and made sacrifices to own their home should bear the burden of providing affordable housing is absurd.
The problem rests with poor management of our economy and a real estate market that has run amok – not because people are leaving their homes empty when they go on extended vacations or work sabbaticals.
This tax is poorly thought out, unfair, and won’t solve the problem that it is trying to solve in the first place.
I have no plans to rent out my home while I am away and I won’t tolerate a government that will penalize me for not doing so.
Joost van Ulden
North Vancouver
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