Updated Checked by the Tax-Services.ca editorial team How we check
City of Vancouver taxes come in four kinds: federal and BC income tax, municipal property tax, the property transfer tax when you buy, and the Empty Homes Tax if it applies to you. On an $80,000 salary the first of those comes to $13,273.52 a year. The rest depends on the home you own or buy.
What income tax costs a Vancouver resident
The city doesn’t tax your pay. Ottawa and the province of British Columbia do, and you’d pay the same living in Kelowna. The BC government’s personal income tax rates page lists seven brackets for 2026, from 5.60% on the first $50,363 up to 20.50% above $265,545. Federal tax comes on top.
For the 2026 tax year, the tax brackets were increased from the previous year by the Consumer Price Index for B.C. of 2.2%.
Personal income tax rates, gov.bc.ca
| BC taxable income | BC rate |
|---|---|
| Up to $50,363 | 5.60% |
| $50,363 to $100,728 | 7.70% |
| $100,728 to $115,648 | 10.50% |
| $115,648 to $140,430 | 12.29% |
| $140,430 to $190,405 | 14.70% |
| $190,405 to $265,545 | 16.80% |
| Above $265,545 | 20.50% |
On $80,000 of salary our income tax calculator shows $9,242.60 federal and $4,030.92 BC tax. Move up to $120,000 and total income tax is $25,163.45. The same $80,000 in Ontario would cost $14,127.85, so BC comes out $854.33 lighter at that level.
How the city sets your property tax
Property tax is the one bill the city controls.
The province’s page says tax rates and your property assessment determine what you pay, and the rates are meant to share the cost of local services, which means the same assessment can produce a very different bill from one year to the next if the rate moves.
Assessed value is not what you’d sell for.
We couldn’t open the City of Vancouver’s rate page from our tools, so we aren’t quoting this year’s rate. Copy it from your own bill or the city site. Then remember the sensitivity: on a $1,500,000 assessment, each 0.1 percentage point of rate is $1,500. Put your own rate into the property tax calculator to see the annual and monthly figure.
The province also has a home owner grant and a deferment programme for property tax. The pages we read named them without details, so check eligibility with the province.
Property transfer tax when you buy in Vancouver
BC charges 1% on the first $200,000 of fair market value, 2% up to $2,000,000 and 3% above that, plus a further 2% on residential value over $3,000,000. That’s the schedule in our data, and the property transfer tax calculator applies it.
| Purchase price | Property transfer tax |
|---|---|
| $800,000 | $14,000 |
| $1,100,000 | $20,000 |
| $1,500,000 | $28,000 |
Here’s the working for the middle row. The first $200,000 at 1% is $2,000, and the remaining $900,000 at 2% is $18,000. Add them and you get $20,000.
First-time buyers and new builds have their own exemptions. Those have price caps and conditions, so we don’t apply them in these figures. Our closing costs calculator puts the tax next to legal fees and other costs.
Is the Empty Homes Tax something you have to worry about?
Vancouver runs an Empty Homes Tax on residential property that sits vacant, and owners are asked to declare how a property was used. We couldn’t open the city’s page, so the current rate, the declaration deadline and the penalties are not confirmed here. Check them at the source before you rely on anything.
What does a year of Vancouver tax bills look like?
Think of it in layers. Income tax comes out of every cheque, so you barely notice it. Property tax arrives as a bill with a due date, or gets folded into your mortgage payment if the lender collects it. The transfer tax happens once, on the day you complete a purchase. And the Empty Homes Tax only matters for homes that sit vacant, and we haven’t confirmed the exact tests.
For a renter, only the first layer applies directly, though property tax is built into the rent in some form.
Where the bills catch people out
Budgeting from the property tax rate alone is the usual slip. The transfer tax is a one-off, and on a $1,100,000 purchase it’s $20,000 in cash, before legal fees. Then there’s the timing: property tax has a due date, and the province’s page says it must be paid before that date.
Want to see what your pay looks like after all the deductions? Try the take-home pay calculator with your salary first. A couple of hundred bucks a month of difference in take-home pay can change what home you can carry.
What this page is based on
BC income tax brackets come from the Government of British Columbia’s 2026 rates page, which we read directly. Federal brackets and property transfer tax bands come from the official sources in our data files, checked in September 2026. The City of Vancouver’s own pages returned an error when we tried them, so no city rate is given here. Every example is an estimate for a single employee.
Frequently asked questions
Does the City of Vancouver charge income tax?
No. Income tax comes from Ottawa and the province of British Columbia. The city sets property tax and runs the Empty Homes Tax.
What is the BC income tax rate in 2026?
It runs from 5.60% on the first $50,363 up to 20.50% above $265,545, according to the BC government's 2026 rates page.
How much is the property transfer tax on $1,100,000?
$20,000 in our calculator, using 1% on the first $200,000 and 2% on the rest up to $2,000,000. Exemptions may lower it.
What is the current Vancouver property tax rate?
We couldn't confirm it. The city sets the rate each year, so take it from your tax bill or the city website.
Do I have to declare for the Empty Homes Tax?
The city asks owners to declare how a home was used. We couldn't open the city's page, so check the current rules and deadline there.
- How Canadian income tax works: brackets and credits
How federal and provincial Canadian income tax stack up, what marginal and average rates mean, and how credits and deductions change your bill
- British Columbia income tax and PST in 2026
How British Columbia income tax works in 2026: seven brackets starting at 5.6%, the tax reduction credit, the 7% PST and the BC calculators