The B.C. NDP housing critic condemned on Sunday what he called “the apparent indifference of our provincial government” to reports of tax evasion, fraud and money laundering in the local real estate market.
David Eby, the MLA for Vancouver-Point Grey, accused the ruling Liberal government of inaction over the Vancouver housing market. Although a 15-per cent foreign buyer tax was introduced in July in an attempt to cool the market, Eby said the government has turned a blind eye to addressing the “acute shortage of auditors” available for enforcement of the new tax and for general oversight of the sector.
Eby said he was speaking out in part to address a news report alleging that a Vancouver man is pocketing millions running a real estate tax-evasion scheme while reporting an annual income of around $45,000. In the story, a whistleblower said that the Canada Revenue Agency and police had declined to pursue the case. The story also quoted two local accountants who said they were aware of clients who were regularly fraudulently representing their income and real estate transactions