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Property transfer tax in British Columbia
What the province takes, and the first-time buyers' exemption — including the taper between $835,000 and $860,000 that most calculators drop.
What it costs, at four prices
Computed from British Columbia's own schedule, last read against its source on August 13, 2026. Every figure is marginal — each band is taxed at its own rate — which is why the tax does not double when the price does.
| Purchase price | Land transfer tax | First-time buyer |
|---|---|---|
| $400,000.00 | $6,000.00 | $0.00 |
| $600,000.00 | $10,000.00 | $2,000.00 |
| $800,000.00 | $14,000.00 | $6,000.00 |
| $1,200,000.00 | $22,000.00 | $22,000.00 |
A first-time buyer pays nothing at all up to $500,000.00.
What is specific to British Columbia
British Columbia charges 1% on the first $200,000, 2% to $2,000,000, and 3% above that — plus a further 2% on residential value over $3,000,000. That last one is a separate levy stacked on the 3% rather than a fourth bracket, so the effective rate at the top is 5%. It is arithmetically identical to modelling a 5% band on residential property, which is how the figures above are produced.
The first-time buyers' exemption has two shapes, and the second is the one that gets dropped. Below $835,000 it relieves the tax on the first $500,000, so a purchase up to $500,000.00 is free outright. Between $835,000 and $860,000 it tapers linearly to nothing rather than falling off a cliff — modelling only the cliff overstates the bill by up to $8,000 for exactly the buyers sitting closest to the line. A separate exemption exists for newly built homes and is deliberately not estimated here: it turns on a property attribute this page does not ask about, and claiming it by mistake would understate the bill.
Your own price
The same calculator as the main page, opened on British Columbia. Nothing you type here is sent anywhere.
Payable on closing day
- Land transfer tax
- $10,000.00
- Land transfer tax payable
- $10,000.00
Payable in cash on closing day, on top of the down payment. Rates are the published provincial and municipal schedules as at 2026-08-13; the rebate assumes you have never owned a home anywhere.
Where these figures come from
Read from the primary source, not from a secondary table. Rates move — Toronto's changed on 1 April 2026 and Quebec's are re-indexed every January — so the date below is part of the answer.
Government of British Columbia — Property transfer tax
Schedule last read against its source on August 13, 2026.
Estimates only, and not legal or tax advice. Your lawyer or notary calculates the figure that is actually paid, and property type, assessed value and the identity of the buyer can all change it.
The other jurisdictions
Every province and city whose schedule is encoded here. The eight that are missing are missing on purpose — their rates are set per municipality, or changed recently and have not been re-read from the primary source, and a page showing $0 for them would be worse than no page.
Your figures stay in your browser
This page asks what you are paying for a home and where it is. The answer to what happens to that is nothing: the arithmetic runs on this page as you type, and there is no request to send it anywhere.
- Nothing you enter here is sent to us.
- No account is needed, and none is created.
- Close the tab and the figures are gone — there is nothing to delete afterwards, because there is nothing stored.
This is one line of the closing-day bill
Land transfer tax is usually the largest, but legal fees, title insurance and an inspection sit beside it, and the down payment sits above it. The affordability calculator puts the whole cash-to-close figure together — and an account tracks the mortgage once you have signed.