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From a Vancouver Island resident with a condo in Vancouver: “If the proposed speculation tax proceeds as you describe, the two-per-cent tax will far exceed the B.C. income tax that we normally pay. We will have no choice but to sell our Vancouver condo. We’re not speculators. We simply wanted to enjoy a few days a month in the city we used to live in, in the comfort of our own condo.”

On the problem for seniors with recreational properties that have been in the family for years: “If they pay zero income tax because their annual income is low enough to warrant no tax — i.e. married couple making around $25,000 or so — they’d never recover the amount.”

From someone with a place on Saturna: “They call it a speculation tax, but it seems more like an empty home tax. The government claims that taxing homes which remain empty most of the year will help deal with the housing shortage. If that is the case, why isn’t Whistler included? The prices are skyrocketing and there is a real housing shortage for workers. On the other hand, they include a Gulf Island like Saturna, where there isn’t a housing shortage and housing prices haven’t risen in more than eight years.”

On the perverse incentives of a tax vis-a-vis longtime residents versus actual speculators: “If you speculate and sell the property quickly, you pay the tax once, while those keeping property for years pay years of tax. The short-term speculators win!”

From someone with a place on Bowen: “Kelowna, the Gulf Islands and Bowen Island have many vacation or second-home properties and this sudden change may have a sharp negative impact on property values as families scramble to part with a property they can no longer pay the annual taxes on. In the small island vacation home areas, often the most expensive homes such as waterfront are second homes. The year-round residents live inland as this is more affordable. As the value correction occurs, the waterfront properties will drop in value relative to the inland properties, shifting the property tax burden toward the more affordable properties.”

From a reader who contacted the office of Green leader Andrew Weaver to complain: “See the uninformed and outright erroneous e-mail response I just got from Andrew Weaver’s office, assuring me: ‘This tax does not apply to British Columbians — anyone who pays income tax in B.C. is exempt. You are able to own multiple homes without being subject to the tax.’”

In fairness to the NDP’s partner in power-sharing, maybe Weaver took the word of the premier, rather than reading what the finance ministry says about how the speculation tax will affect British Columbians.

vpalmer@postmedia.com