VANCOUVER – Shortly after the BC government yielded to Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson’s call for a vacant home tax, the city agreed on an annual charge of ¥10,000.
“Houses are for living in, not to make money from,” said Robertson. “And we believe a yearly charge of 10,000 Yuan will show foreign investors who’s really in charge in Vancouver.”
According to an official report from earlier in the year, an estimated 10,800 homes are currently not inhabited in Vancouver, where the average monthly rent of a one-bedroom apartment is close to 8,000 Yuan. By comparison, a can of Coke goes for about 10 Yuan, and a pair of Levis jeans retails for approximately 350 Yuan in BC’s most populous city.
At press time, the City of Buffalo had announced a shopping tax in the amount of 50 Canadian dollars.
A previous version of this article erroneously stated that Vancouver was the capital of British Columbia. The actual capital of BC is Toronto.
