Ottawa continues to dangle the threat of a home equity tax over Canadians.

The Canada Revenue Agency has been forcing taxpayers to report the sale of their home since 2016, even though that sale isn’t supposed to be taxed. If taxpayers don’t report their home sale to the CRA, they can face big bills and fines.

BINDA: Carney should axe the home sale reporting requirement Back to video

That raises an obvious question.

If the taxman doesn’t want to tax Canadians’ homes, then why is the taxman forcing Canadians to report the sale of their home? Is the CRA just curious? Or is the federal government laying out the groundwork for a home equity tax?

If Prime Minister Mark Carney isn’t thinking about a home equity tax, then he should remove the reporting requirement.

Carney hasn’t been shy about rolling back bad policies from the Trudeau government. He should throw the reporting requirement on home sales into the same pile he tossed the capital gains tax hike, the consumer carbon tax and the ban on the sale of new gas and diesel vehicles by 2035.

Exemption relied on when planning financial futures

A home equity tax would crush many seniors relying on the sale of their home and hurt young couples trying to buy their first home.

The proceeds Canadians make from selling their home are currently exempt from capital gains tax and that’s a good thing.

Canadians rely on that exemption when they’re planning their financial futures. For many, their home is their most valuable asset and a big part of funding their golden years. People work for decades, saving up for a down payment, paying off the mortgage, maintaining their homes and paying property taxes. The government shouldn’t pull the carpet out from under them by introducing a new tax on homes.

When seniors living cheque to cheque on fixed incomes downsize, they shouldn’t be slapped with a big tax bill.

Inevitably, a portion of the home equity tax would get passed to consumers through higher prices. In this case, those are families looking to buy a home.

Taxes make everything more expensive

Even home equity tax cheerleaders acknowledge the simple reality: Taxes don’t make life more affordable; they make everything more expensive.

“Owners of homes valued over $1 million that include informal rental suites may try to recover the surtax by passing some of its cost onto renters,” reads a report funded by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).

In expensive real estate markets like Vancouver or Toronto, even a home equity tax on properties over $1 million would hurt average families trying to save for a small condo.  The average home in Metro Vancouver costs more than $1.1 million and many Toronto neighbourhoods are just as expensive.

Ottawa has been flirting with new taxes on homes for years.

Federal bureaucrats at the CMHC spent at least $450,000 on handouts to a lobby group out of UBC that promotes home equity taxes.

CMHC first gave the lobby group $250,000 to produce a report, which recommended that governments impose a home equity tax on “housing windfalls gained by many homeowners while they sleep and watch TV.”

Never mind a lifetime of paying taxes, making mortgage payments and maintaining your home.

The CMHC doubled down and gave that same lobby group another $200,000 to push the home equity tax report to “a broader audience.”

A federal Liberal spokesperson previously denied claims that the Carney government would impose a home equity tax. But talk is cheap, especially when it’s coming from politicians who are always looking for more taxpayer cash to paper over their $1-trillion government debts.

There is only one way for Carney to prove to taxpayers that he isn’t dreaming up a new tax on Canadians’ homes: End the reporting requirement.

A home equity tax would cost taxpayers billions, hurt seniors saving for their retirement and make homes more expensive for younger Canadians trying to buy their first home.

If the government has no plans to tax Canadians on the sale of their homes, it should cancel the reporting requirement.

There is no good reason for the government to force Canadians to tell the CRA when they’re selling their homes if the government isn’t scheming up a new tax.

Carney should prove he won’t impose a home equity tax by scrapping the CRA reporting requirement.

Carson Binda is the B.C. director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation 

© Edmonton Sun