Home owner grants may be eligible to home owners whose property is worth $1,525,000 or less.
That’s the new threshold for applying in 2020, and it was set at the same time as your property assessment, which should have arrived by now.
The regular grant is $570 for qualifying home owners in the Lower Mainland — it could be as high as $845 for seniors who qualify. To qualify last year, your property assessment was higher: $1.65 million. Even with the reduction, 92 per cent of BC’s home owners are eligible for the basic grant.
To qualify, you must be the registered homeowner, a Canadian citizen or permanent resident of Canada, and the property must be your principal residence.
What happens if you buy property during the tax year?
Then you also may file for the grant, which will be applied only for the property taxes not paid by the previous owner, if you didn’t apply for the grant on another property and if you are living in your new home.
Partial grants are also possible should your property be worth more than $1.525 million.
You must apply each year, and you can do so online at this BC Government website.