1 Definitions And Interpretation

• 1 (1) In this Act:

• “administrator” means the person that the minister designates as the administrator for the purposes of this Act;
• “agreement for sale” means a contract for the sale of an interest in land under which the purchaser agrees to pay the purchase price over a period of time, in the manner stated in the contract, and on payment of which the vendor is obliged to transfer the interest in land to the purchaser;
• “assessment” includes reassessment;
• “child” includes a person who is the stepchild of a parent;
• “designate” means a person in a class designated under section 13.1(1);
• “electronic return” means a return in electronic format, the form of which is established by the administrator;
• “execution copy”, in relation to an electronic return, means a legible paper copy of the electronic return, containing every material provision and particular contained in the original, that is prepared for the purposes of certification under section 13.1(3);
• “fair market value” means

• (a) for a transaction referred to in paragraph (a)(i) of the definition of “taxable transaction”, the amount that would have been paid for the fee simple interest in the land had it been sold at the date of registration of the taxable transaction in the open market by a willing seller to a willing purchaser free of any trust and unencumbered by
  • (i) a mortgage, debenture, trust deed, hypothecation agreement or any other financial instrument, other than a prescribed instrument, that secures the payment of money or the performance of an obligation,
  • (ii) a right to purchase under an agreement for sale,
  • (iii) a judgment for the payment of money,
  • (iv) the rights of a lien holder under the Builders Lien Act, or
  • (v) any other prescribed charge,
• (b) for a transaction referred to in paragraph (a)(ii) of the definition of “taxable transaction”, the fair market value of the life estate, determined in the prescribed manner,
• (c) for a transaction referred to in paragraph (a)(iii) or (c) of the definition of “taxable transaction”, the fair market value, determined in the prescribed manner, of the lease agreement or of its extension, as the case may be,
• (d) for a transaction referred to in paragraphs (a)(iv) and (b) of the definition of “taxable transaction”, the fair market value of the fee simple interest in the land that is the subject of the agreement for sale referred to in those paragraphs, free of any trust, determined in accordance with paragraph (a) of this definition,
• (e) for a transaction referred to in paragraph (d) of the definition of “taxable transaction”, the fair market value of the interest that is being transferred by the transaction, determined in the prescribed manner,
• (f) for a transaction referred to in paragraph (e) of the definition of “taxable transaction”, the fair market value of the lease agreement, determined in the manner referred to in paragraph (c), but as though the transaction were a lease agreement having a term consisting of the total period referred to in paragraph (e) of the definition of “taxable transaction”, or
• (g) for a transaction referred to in paragraph (f) of the definition of “taxable transaction”, the fair market value of the interest to which the application under section 191 of the Land Title Act relates, as determined in accordance with the provision of this definition that corresponds to the nature of the interest involved;

• “industrial improvement” means an industrial improvement as defined in section 20(1) of the Assessment Act;
• “land title office” means a land title office as defined in the Land Title Act;
• “lease agreement” means

• (a) an agreement by which a leasehold estate is granted or assigned, or
• (b) an agreement by which an option to renew or extend the term of a lease is granted,

• and includes a lease modification agreement;
• “lease modification agreement” means an agreement between a lessor and a lessee that extends the term of the lease;
• “ministry” means the ministry of the minister responsible for the administration of this Act;
• “parcel” means a parcel as defined in the Land Title Act that has not been subdivided into smaller parcels and that

• (a) bears a parcel identifier, or
• (b) under land title office practice, is to be assigned a parcel identifier on registration under the Land Title Act of a transfer of the parcel;

• “parcel identifier” means a permanent parcel identifier assigned under section 58 of the Land Title Act;
• “parent” includes a spouse of a parent of the child;
• “permanent resident of Canada” means a permanent resident as defined in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (Canada);
• “related individual” means

• (a) a person’s spouse, child, grandchild, greatgrandchild, parent, grandparent or greatgrandparent,
• (b) the spouse of a person’s child, grandchild or greatgrandchild, or
• (c) the child, parent, grandparent or greatgrandparent of a person’s spouse;

• “related person” means a person who is

• (a) a related individual, or
• (b) a related person within the meaning of section 251 of the Income Tax Act (Canada);

• “return” means a return in the form provided by the minister;
• “settlor”, in relation to land held in trust, means the person who

• (a) contributed the land to the trust estate, or
• (b) contributed to the trust estate the assets used to acquire the land,

• whether or not that person is the creator of the trust;
• “spouse” means a person who

• (a) is married to another person, or
• (b) is living with another person in a marriage-like relationship, and has been living in that relationship for a continuous period of at least 2 years;

• “tax” means the tax imposed by this Act and the regulations and includes all interest and penalties imposed or that may be imposed under this Act;
• “taxable transaction” means a transaction

• (a) purporting to transfer or grant, by any method including a disposition, an order of a court, including an order absolute of foreclosure, or by the operation of any enactment or law,
  • (i) an estate in fee simple referred to in section 23(2) of the Land Title Act,
  • (ii) a life estate in land,
  • (iii) a right to occupy land under a lease agreement, or
  • (iv) a right to
    • (A) occupy land, or
    • (B) require the transfer of an estate in fee simple referred to in section 23(2) of the Land Title Act,
• under an agreement for sale,
• (b) purporting to transfer a right referred to in paragraph (a)(iv), if an agreement for sale is cancelled or determined in any manner, including
  • (i) a court order cancelling or otherwise determining the agreement, or
  • (ii) a quit claim releasing the interest of the purchaser under the agreement,
• (c) extending the term of a lease agreement by a lease modification agreement,
• (d) prescribed under section 2(3),
• (e) between a lessor and a lessee of land such that, following the transaction, that lessee and any other person, if any, having the right to occupy the land under a lease agreement, will have the right to occupy the land for a period that exceeds 30 years in total, or
• (f) that consists of an application under section 191 of the Land Title Act in respect of an amalgamation referred to in section 191(4) of that Act,

• and includes

• (g) 2 or more lease agreements or options to lease if
  • (i) those transactions are in respect of the same land,
  • (ii) the applications for registration of the transactions are made at a land title office within 6 months of each other,
  • (iii) each of the transactions provides either a term during which a person is given a right to occupy the land or, in the case of an option to lease, a right to enter into a lease agreement under which a person will be given a right to occupy the land for a term specified in the option to lease, and
  • (iv) the terms referred to in subparagraph (iii), other than terms provided by a time share plan within the meaning of the Real Estate Development Marketing Act, a sublease or an assignment, exceed 30 years in total;

• “taxpayer” means a person liable for payment of tax under this Act;
• “transferee” means a person to whom land is transferred under a taxable transaction, and, for the purposes of section 3(7), includes a person to whom an option to lease referred to in paragraph (g)(iii) of the definition of “taxable transaction” gives a right to enter into a lease agreement under which is given a right to occupy land for a term that is not the same as or included within a term provided by any other of the transactions that comprise the taxable transaction referred to in section 3(7);
• “transferor” means a person who transfers land to a transferee under a taxable transaction;
• “true copy” means

• (a) in relation to a paper document, an exact copy of the document, and
• (b) in relation to an electronic return,
  • (i) an exact copy of the electronic return, or
  • (ii) a legible paper copy of the electronic return containing every material provision and particular contained in the original.

• (2) For the purpose of determining the term of the lease,

• (a) the term of the lease includes the cumulative total of all options or rights to renew the lease, and
• (b) if the lease is a time share plan under the Real Estate Development Marketing Act, the term of the lease must be determined by adding together the number of calendar years during which the transferee may, for any part of a year, occupy the land.

• (3) For the purpose of calculating tax payable under this Act, a person registered in the land title office as the owner of land, other than a person registered only as the owner of a charge, is deemed to be the legal and beneficial owner of a fee simple interest in the land, even if the person holds the land in trust.

1987-15-1; 1987-64-1; 1989-9-1; 1990-15-3; 1991-16-1, 2; 1992-21-2, 3; 1994-14-1; 1997-27-29; 1997-45-52 (B.C. Reg. 1/98); 1999-47-50; 2000-24-31; 2003-3-28; 1999-35-6; 2004-12-31; 2004-41-57; 2007-31-26; 2007-14-212 (B.C. Reg. 354/2007); 2011-25-427 (B.C. Reg. 131/2012); 2016-3-45, 2018-37-18 (B.C. Reg. 171/2019); 2019-40-19; 2023-23-148.