(Information taken directly from the Province of British Columbia's website on Property Tax Deferment)
The families with children tax deferment program is a low interest loan program that allows you to defer paying all or part of your property taxes on your principal residence if you are financially supporting a child under certain circumstances.
Find out what the program qualifications are for:
- You (the applicant)
- Your property
- Equity in your property
Applicant Qualifications
To qualify for this program you must:
and you must be financially supporting:
- any child who is under the age of 18 and living with you full time or part time or who doesn't live with you but you pay support for the child, or
- your own child or stepchild of any age that is attending an educational institution (e.g. college or university), or
- your own child or stepchild of any age who is designated as a person with disabilities under the Employment and Assistance for Persons with Disabilities Act, or
- your own child or stepchild of any age that, in the opinion of a physician, has a severe mental or physical impairment that:
- is likely to continue for at least two years,
- directly and significantly restricts their ability to perform daily living activities, either continuously or periodically for extended periods, and
- as a result of those restrictions, they require an assistive device, the significant help or supervision of another person, or the services of an assistance animal to help perform those activities
Note: You may need to show proof that you're financially supporting a child under the age of 18 who doesn’t live with you.
Property Qualifications
To qualify for this program, your eligible property must:
Your property doesn't qualify for tax deferment if:
- You don't meet ALL program qualifications
- Your current year property taxes have already been paid in full
- You owe overdue property taxes in arrears for previous years
- It's a second residence like a cottage, summer home or rental home
- You pay the property taxes for the residence to a First Nation
- The property title is entirely in the name of the executor/executrix, or an administrator of the deceased owner's estate
- The property title is entirely in trust
- The property is leased from the Crown or Municipality
- It's a float home or a home on stilts that doesn't have a property title registered with the Land Title Office
- It has a Caveat other than Public Guardian and Trustee
- It has a Certificate of Pending Litigation or an Injunction
- It has a judgment registered on title (judgments expire two years after registration or renewal unless it’s non-expiring)
Contact your lender prior to applying to ensure approval into the program does not conflict with the terms of your loan.
Note: If there's an option to purchase on the property title, the property may not qualify for deferment. Contact us for more information before you apply.
Equity Requirements
You must have and maintain a minimum equity of 15% of the property's assessed value. This means that all charges registered against your property plus the amount of taxes you want to defer can’t be more than 85% of the BC Assessment value of your property in the year you apply.
Find out how your equity is calculated.