Audits under the Property Transfer Tax Act

The Property Taxation Branch is responsible for the administration of tax under several provincial statutes, including the Property Transfer Tax Act. To ensure this happens in accordance with the legislation, we routinely conduct audits and reviews of tax returns.

An audit under the Property Transfer Tax Act is an examination of a taxpayer's records and other information to ensure taxes have been collected, remitted or paid as required or that an exemption applies to the transaction. An audit will identify any transactions where this may have been done incorrectly.

Any taxpayer can be audited. Taxpayers may be chosen based on a special audit project, legislated program, risk, or referral from another audit.

If you have been selected for an audit, you can expect us to follow these steps:

• At the start of the audit, we will contact you to ask for information around the transaction that may not be contained in the tax return, and notify you if we need to inspect the property that has been transferred.
• During the audit, we will review your records and be willing to discuss issues of interpretation that arise from the audit.
• We will work with you to ensure the audit is completed in a timely manner. If you have any concerns, we will work with you to resolve them as quickly as possible.
• We will safeguard your records without compromise.
• We will notify you of any refund entitlement discovered during an audit.
• When the audit is complete, we will, where appropriate, review and explain the results, notify you if an amount is owed, and make you aware of your options if you disagree with the results.
• If you provide additional information after the audit, we will review it and determine if an adjustment is needed.

In some cases, an audit is limited to a review of documentation such as a tax return. If this review determines you owe additional amounts, we will issue a Notice of Assessment and you have the right to request an explanation of how it was determined. For details on payment, please see Make a Payment.

If you disagree with the results of an audit, and/or with the resulting Notice of Assessment, you have the right to appeal. Please see our Appeals page for more information.

A waiver allows a taxpayer to voluntarily extend the assessment period in connection with a specific issue. In most cases under the Property Transfer Tax Act, the assessment period is one year from the date the transaction is registered in the Land Title Office.

The assessment period does not apply if a taxpayer has:

• made a misrepresentation or committed fraud in making the tax return or providing information under the Act
• filed a waiver within the assessment period
• not filed a tax return

A waiver accommodates circumstances where there is not enough time for an adequate resolution to an audit. It improves the accuracy of an assessment by allowing additional time for discussion and collection of information before an assessment is made.

You can file a waiver by writing to the Administrator requesting a waiver. Once a waiver has been filed, it is in effect until six months after you file a notice with the Administrator revoking the waiver.

Once a notice of revocation has been filed, it cannot be cancelled.

You can write to the Administrator at:

Property Transfer Tax Administrator
PO BOX 9427 STN PROV GOVT
VICTORIA BC  V8W 9V1