The Canadian Commercial Council of REALTORS® (CCC), through the resources of The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), is a leading advocate for the interests of commercial REALTORS® and property owners in the public policy arena. The Council also works to ensure legislation protects private property rights, and has developed proposals on tax restructuring, and brownfield redevelopment, among other issues.
The Canadian Real Estate Association and two other national associations whose members are central to the investment, management, purchase and sale of real property are calling on the federal government to change capital gains tax policy to encourage reinvestment. The members of the three associations generate hundreds of billions of dollars of economic activity annually.
The three Associations have completed new research to support the proposal to allow the deferral of capital gains tax and recaptured capital cost allowance when an investment property is sold and the proceeds of the sale are reinvested in another property within a year.
The research shows that the first-year cost of implementing the proposal would be $415 million, not taking into account offsets from increased economic activity. The group of taxpayers who would benefit most from the change would be those with net incomes of $50,000 or less. The research also shows current tax policy creates a negative "lock-in effect" so investors hold onto old assets to avoid having to pay tax, rather than selling and reinvesting in new assets.
Details are here.
For a number of years, REALTORS® have been calling on governments at all levels to take steps to provide the necessary tools to assist the private sector in redeveloping neglected and/or abandoned sites identified as brownfields. These sites are often located on prime real estate in Canada’s urban centers. They are not being utilized to their full potential due to a variety of administrative and legislative barriers. It is estimated that there are more than 30,000 brownfield sites in Canada today.
Commercial council members see significant benefits to brownfield redevelopment, including: increasing property values and an increased property tax base; improving quality of housing, commercial, and mixed-use properties; slowing urban sprawl; and more efficient use of existing municipal infrastructure.
Details are here.
|
