The BC Property Tax Deferment program allows eligible homeowners to defer paying their current year’s property taxes. The Ministry of Finance pays the property tax on their behalf and secures repayment through a lien on the property.
Unfortunately, the time to process and provide property tax deferment loan payout statements has been significantly impacted by the BCGEU job action. What was previously a turnaround time of approximately three business days may now take several weeks.
Practice tips during the job action:
If your real estate transaction is imminent and you cannot wait for a formal payout statement, your client can obtain an estimated balance online through eTaxBC login. In such cases, consider holding back sufficient funds—ideally far more than the estimated balance—to ensure there are sufficient funds to fully pay out the deferred property taxes, including all accrued interest after the payout statement is received. This precaution helps mitigate any risk of a shortfall. If for some reason your client is unable to access the portal, you can also obtain from your client the annual statement sent by the municipality. This sets out the balance deferred to the date on the statement, including accrued interest.
Additionally, the Property Taxation Branch has advised that only electronic payments are being accepted as it is unable to process cheques at this time.
You can obtain further information about the program here: Repaying your property tax deferment loan - Province of British Columbia
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