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228 (1) Subject to this section, land and its improvements are liable to taxation if the land is

  • (a) owned in fee simple by the Crown or some person or organization on behalf of the Crown, and
  • (b) held or occupied other than by or on behalf of the Crown.
  • (2) This section does not make the following liable to taxation:
  • (a) land or improvements otherwise exempt under section 220(1)(b) to (m);
  • (b) land and improvements that are exempt under Division 7of this Part;
  • (c) a highway occupied by
    • (i) a gas, electric light, telephone, telegraph, power, pipeline, water, motor bus, electric trolley bus, radio or television broadcasting or closed circuit television company, or
    • (ii) a company that, in addition to any other function, provides a service similar in nature to a service referred to in subparagraph (i).
  • (3) Except as provided under the Veterans’ Land Act (Canada) and subsection (4), the taxes imposed on land and improvements referred to in subsection (1)
  • (a) are a liability only of the holder or occupier, recoverable in the manner set out in this Act, and
  • (b) are not a lien or charge on the land and improvements that are not liable to tax sale.
  • (4) In the case of land disposed of by the Provincial government for which the Crown grant has not been registered,
  • (a) the land, together with its improvements, is liable to tax sale,
  • (b) the taxes imposed are a lien and charge on the land and its improvements, and
  • (c) the provisions of this Act and the Local Government Act for assessment, taxation, recovery of taxes and tax sales apply for the purposes of this subsection.
  • (5) If a supplementary assessment roll has been prepared under the Assessment Act for land held or occupied in the manner referred to in subsection (1),
  • (a) the holder or occupier is liable to real property tax in the calendar year in which the holding or occupancy began for the portion of the calendar year the land was held or occupied, and
  • (b) section 241 applies for the purposes of this subsection.
  • (6) This section also applies to
  • (a) improvements owned, held or occupied by or leased to, a person other than the Crown, located on land the fee of which is vested in the Crown or in some other person or organization on behalf of the Crown, and
  • (b) land held in trust for a band of Indians and occupied, other than in an official capacity, by a person who is not an Indian.

2003-26-228, effective January 1, 2004 (B.C. Reg. 423/2003).