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How much does the real estate industry shape B.C. Liberals?

In some cases, Kurland said, the professionals are taking advantage of Canada’s tax loopholes so their trans-national clients “can have their cake and eat it too.”

Some, for instance, are claiming to real estate officials they are Canadian residents to buy and sell houses (avoiding capital gains) and to maintain their status as permanent residents.

But then some of the same people, at the same time, Kurland said, are claiming to Revenue Canada they are not residents under our tax law so they don’t have to declare their global income and property holdings and pay taxes in Canada.

Solving such problems, says Hyman, would require no new Canadian tax laws, no new taxes and no new restrictions on ownership, domestic or foreign.

The reforms would simply require more rigorous enforcement of claims by sellers and buyers about where they pay their taxes (regardless of whether they have a Canadian passport).

The reforms, which mainly require better information sharing between governments, will illuminate “market forces pushed by tax evaders, money launderers and economic fugitives parking ill-gotten gains in B.C. real estate,” Hyman said.

In short, Hyman’s proposed new rules would require any declaration that sellers make about where they live and pay taxes to be immediately cross-checked with Immigration Canada and the Canada Revenue Agency.

That way, since it’s the job of both Canadian immigration and tax officials to monitor where someone lives, all residency claims on real estate forms can be confirmed or exposed within days.