If wealth taxes are implemented in Canada, how do you think it will affect real estate prices?

RaC1550 wrote: ↑ https://nationalpost.com/pmn/news-pmn/c ... enda-singh

I image the amount of rich immigrant choosing Canada as a destination will drastically decline if this happens. Not to mention the amount of rich investors that will leave Canada.

I don't imagine wealth tax will actually get implemented now. However, this is one danger of living in a increasing unequal society. If you let wealth inequality become too great, eventually some form of political revolution (peaceful or not) will happen, be that wealth taxes or UBI.

it's a tough balance....you ask them to pay too much taxes, and they either i) leave the country or ii) have resources to evade taxes
That's even worse

Wealth taxes are such a bad idea that even France gave them up.

Why even bother asking such questions if you finally quote NDP leader.
You can just ask what would happen if Canada implements Marxism tomorrow.

what is he talking about "profited off this pandemic" ?

"There are people that are winning. The ultra rich continue to make massive profits. They profited off this pandemic,” he said.

blexann wrote: ↑ what is he talking about "profited off this pandemic" ?

"There are people that are winning. The ultra rich continue to make massive profits. They profited off this pandemic,” he said.

Communism rotted his brain. He thinks cost recovery is profit.

I wouldn't dismiss this idea. I believe that many voters in this country are ill-informed and will gladly support a government that will promises them a "free" UBI and whatever taxes come with that. Sadly, the same people who want UBI won't be told what conditions come with it until it is too late. Such people think that they will be able to live the exact same lives they have today but get a fat cheque from the government on top. Unfortunately, UBI doesn't work that way. Life will not resemble anything like it is today, taxes will be uncomfortably high for everyone and people will have less of a voice over the way they live their lives. Everything will be more expensive and in a short time the value of the UBI will be insignicant compared to the cost of living. Many smart financial people out there are trying to educate people on this subject and I think it is worth paying close attention.

Bottom line, if there is no longer a "Canadian dream" to wish for in Canada, why would people desire Canadian real estate?

I think there is more of a chance of an decrease in capital gains exemption from current 50%, decreases in dividend tax credit and and the return of an inheritance tax (not all of these together necessarily), all much likelier than a wealth tax, which has been proven to be counter productive in other countries as mentioned above. The factors I list are more easily tweakable so that the incentive to avoid taxes is reduced compared to the wealth tax relatively speaking.

FrancisBacon wrote: ↑ Wealth taxes are such a bad idea that even France gave them up.

Looking it up, it's been tried in a bunch of European countries that had to give it up because the rich simply packed up and left.

I won't dismiss it completely however, as the many US politician had been talking about it in the recent election, and if the US implements one, Canada probably won't be shy to follow suite. The problem with small European countries implementing these is that the rich can literally pack up and walk across the boarder to another EU country. US citizens don't have the same option, as US taxes globally, and they will tax you if renounce your citizenship.

Anyway, I hope this doesn't happen, as I am not a fan of wealth taxes. But it's still a long term risk to keep in mind.

RaC1550 wrote: ↑ it's still a long term risk to keep in mind.

I don't deny it's a risk. There is no limit to how many bad policies a government can implement, especially in times of crisis.

But it's not just bad because people leave. It's also bad because:
- it's an extremely expensive tax to administer,
- extremely burdensome to the taxpayer (imagine having to pay to evaluate your private business, or art, or cottage, every 5 years),
- it's very easy to "game" (again, value of private business),
- and it creates terrible incentives (run a company to generate cash to pay the tax vs invest to grow it).

Wealth tax will do nothing to the rich as we all know people who are wealthy have the mean to move their money to a different place that our government can never touch. This kind of tax will eventually make the middle class life more difficult, ie the hard working average joe will expect to pay more in ( capital gain tax, property tax and inheritance tax, etc) in the name of fairness. Then again how many of those restaurants workers and owners that lose their job had honestly file their income tax in the past.

I just think we are getting to point where the middle class dream in nearly over.

Once we get to wealth taxes, principle residence taxes, middle class funding UBI...make no mistake these are coming to Canada. The parasite will spread its tentacles for new sources of revenue as the original sources dry up. Only place to hide is some form of govt job or a skill set easily transportable to other destinations.

Why I’m not saving as much for a rainy day anymore. Can’t take it with you. And the govt can’t take it if you spend it as not to accumulate wealth.

I know a lot of forum members like to deny this, but Canada has been a commie state for ages.

TTC bus drivers making more than PhD graduates.

Police force protecting their own. Salaries bigger than engineers.

Everyone wants a safe government job.

Super inflated pensions guaranteed for government sector only.

Universal health care.

Etc... Etc...

IMO it will raise real estate prices, because there's likely going to be an exception for your primary residence (just like capital gains).

BiegeToyota wrote: ↑ I know a lot of forum members like to deny this, but Canada has been a commie state for ages.

TTC bus drivers making more than PhD graduates.

Police force protecting their own. Salaries bigger than engineers.

Everyone wants a safe government job.

Super inflated pensions guaranteed for government sector only.

Universal health care.

Etc... Etc...

what's funny is what those all have in common? those are all unionized jobs
problem isn't which side of politics your on, its that non union wages have stagnated while union jobs have done well, but of course walmart will make you believe that working for them is so much better than a union job

FreezingCanada wrote: ↑ IMO it will raise real estate prices, because there's likely going to be an exception for your primary residence (just like capital gains).

That would be nice, but I can see there being a max PR exemption eventually, for example max $500k exemption per property or a lifetime max of 1 mil or something....just to make sure nobody gets rich off real estate in Canada. :’(

ricodeals wrote: ↑ what's funny is what those all have in common? those are all unionized jobs
problem isn't which side of politics your on, its that non union wages have stagnated while union jobs have done well, but of course walmart will make you believe that working for them is so much better than a union job

why not fired 50% of these unproductive unionized government workers and give a everyone a tax break like 30% off on all taxes so people that earn a minimum wage can improve their quality of life.

The American dream is to work at the top tech firm in the silicon valley, while the Canadian dream is to get a government job and retire happily after, lol.

BiegeToyota wrote: ↑ I know a lot of forum members like to deny this, but Canada has been a commie state for ages.

TTC bus drivers making more than PhD graduates.

Police force protecting their own. Salaries bigger than engineers.

Everyone wants a safe government job.

Super inflated pensions guaranteed for government sector only.

Universal health care.

Etc... Etc...

It's painful how true this is. Anyone in Ottawa will tell you that they know someone who works half an hour per week with full benefits, a high wage and a defined benefit pension plan. I'm all for pandemic mitigation but a lot of worthless gov't office workers need to be cut off - and yes I understand that there are exceptions.

Lcbo cashiers make more than the avg university grad wage too. Granted I think the average uni grad wage is dragged down by useless majors

VanByTheRiver wrote: ↑ It's painful how true this is. Anyone in Ottawa will tell you that they know someone who works half an hour per week with full benefits, a high wage and a defined benefit pension plan. I'm all for pandemic mitigation but a lot of worthless gov't office workers need to be cut off - and yes I understand that there are exceptions.

Lcbo cashiers make more than the avg university grad wage too. Granted I think the average uni grad wage is dragged down by useless majors

Beware of incoming posts stating if it's so easy get a government job.

However don't put down useless degrees. No degree is useless and any civilized society will recognize this.

Angel Girl wrote: ↑ That would be nice, but I can see there being a max PR exemption eventually, for example max $500k exemption per property or a lifetime max of 1 mil or something....just to make sure nobody gets rich off real estate in Canada. :’(

If it's $20 million as the NDP is proposing, the vast majority voters think their property will never appreciate to that value, so they'd likely be on board.

Sudden a family of four will just buy four hoses. Boom, up to $80 million sheltered. Honestly, at those levels of wealth, you could just move to the USA to avoid this. Heck, you could probably classify your private jet as an expense on your Canadian business.

I would expect those individuals to already have multiple residences in different countries. This will just discourage them from investing back into Canada.