Selling Your Property: What are the Associated Costs?

Property sellers are responsible for the following costs:

1. Costs of clearing title including:

  • Discharge fees charged by encumbrance holders
  • Pre-payment penalties

2. GST on Commission and other services

3. Lawyer or Notary Fees & Expenses

  • Attending to execution of documents
  • Discharging any encumbrances

4. Real Estate Commission

  • Adjustments for Ownership
  • Taxes
  • WRA Assessment
  • Strata Fees
  • Etc.

5. Capital Gains Taxes – if applicable

Requirements/Costs for Non-Resident Sellers

For non-residents, there are a few points you should be aware of when considering the sale of your Whistler property.

Obtain a Clearance Certificate: You will need a Clearance Certificate from Revenue Canada prior to the completion date of your transaction. The current wait for a Clearance Certificate may be more than 2 months, so it is important to contact your lawyer or accountant as soon as an accepted offer has been received. Before issuing the Clearance Certificate, Revenue Canada will need to collect any tax payable on the property to be sold.

Calculating Capital Gain: To determine the adjusted cost base in order to calculate capital gain, Revenue Canada allows the following:
a. Property Transfer Tax
b. Legal fees and disbursements associated with the purchase
c. Furnishings and renovations included in the selling price
d. GST
e. A portion of the interest on mortgage payments
Revenue Canada does not allow any deductions from the selling price in determining the gain, and the rate of the Capital Gain Tax is 33.33% of the gain. However, by filing a Canadian tax return with Revenue Canada after the sale, some of the tax paid may be recovered.