Justin Trudeau's recently re-elected government has promised to implement a new 10-per-cent tax on luxury cars, boats and personal aircraft over $100,000 — and, naturally, the news has some dealers shaking in their Italian leather boots.
The change will be felt most drastically in the West, where B.C.'s wealthy are already subject to a 15-per-cent provincial sales tax on vehicles in the $125,000 to $149,999 range; and a 20-per-cent tax on those over $150,000. Both of those were increased in 2018 by the provincial NDP government.
The proposed new luxury tax would be
on top of those tariffs, meaning for West Coast buyers, a $232,000 Lamborghini Urus would accrue almost $70,000 in taxes.
"In a province where we already have a luxury tax and luxury supertax, up in those high levels, it's very concerning," Blair Qualey, head of the New Car Dealers Association of B.C., told
Automotive News Canada. "We're seeing this layering of tax burdens by jurisdictions that don't seem to be talking to one another. The burden is getting pretty difficult."
We're not sure if buyers of these $100,000-plus vehicles expect the average Canadian to feel any pity for the 'pretty difficult burden' they'll bear, but we assume the NDP – which famously proposed a one-per-cent wealth tax on those with assets worth over $20 million – isn't likely to feel too sorry for them.
Nevertheless, for some dealership employees in B.C., the pinch is real, and it stings. According to
Automotive News Canada, Ferrari-Maserati of Vancouver saw sales dip to by nearly 20 per cent since the new 2018 taxes were put in place, causing the company to lay off staff.
