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Stiff fines would await those caught trying to dodge an empty homes tax in Vancouver, city staff told councillors Tuesday.

A $10,000 penalty – the maximum fine the city can issue – is the main tool staff could use to enforce the proposed annual tax on homes that are not being used as principal residences, said Kathleen Llewellyn-Thomas, the city’s general manager of community services.

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“It would be our desire to make the penalties as hard as possible so that somebody would be incented to do the right thing and not declare falsely,” Llewellyn-Thomas said.

Last week Mayor Gregor Robertson plugged the annual tax on empty homes not as a way to raise cash, but as a way to boost the city’s near-zero rental vacancy rate.

The empty home tax rate is still being worked out, but it could be between one half to two per cent of a home’s assessed value, according to a recent staff report. Homeowners would be asked to self-declare whether their homes are being used as a principal residence.