Presale Assignments in BC: Consent, Flipping Tax, GST and What You Actually Keep

Assign a presale contract inside its first year for a $60,000 profit and, on my worked example, you keep about $20,844. The rest goes to the developer's consent fee, your lawyer, the BC home flipping tax and federal income tax, in that order of when they hit you. Wait until day 730 and the same lift leaves you roughly $42,595, if the gain qualifies as a capital gain by then (that depends on your facts).

A presale assignment is simple on paper: you signed to buy a condo or townhouse that isn't built yet, and before it completes you sell your place in the contract to someone else. They take over the purchase, repay your deposit and pay you whatever "lift" you agreed on. In 2026 it's a lot less simple than it was in 2016. The developer has to consent, the Province collects the details of every deal, the federal government taxes the whole lift as business income if you held the contract under 365 days, BC adds its own flipping tax for anything under 730 days, and GST applies to the lift.

Today is also BC's provincial election day. Everything below is the law as it reads on October 24, 2026. If the next government changes the flipping tax or the assignment rules, I'll update this page.

Source: Government of B.C., BC home flipping tax: pre-sale contracts; Income Tax Act s.12(12)-(14); CRA GI-120. Last tile: hypothetical worked example below.

Developer consent and the assignment clause

Your right to assign lives in your purchase agreement, not in any general law. Some developers don't allow assignments at all. If yours does, the Real Estate Development Marketing Act (REDMA) sets the minimum: the contract must include a term that bans any assignment without the developer's prior consent, a notice that the developer will collect information from both sides before consenting, and a term requiring every party to hand that information over (section 20.3).

The developer is not allowed to consent until it has that information. After consenting, it has to collect and keep a copy of the signed assignment agreement. So there's no such thing as a quiet side deal on a BC presale. If the developer hasn't signed off, the assignee has no clean path to completion.

What the law doesn't set is the price of that consent. The fee, any limits on when or how you may assign, and anything else the developer attaches to its consent are contract terms. The Province does record the fee: it's one of the fields developers report for every assignment. Read the assignment clause before you sign the presale, not when you need out. If you're still shopping, my presale buying guide covers what else to check in the contract and disclosure statement.

What the Province records about your deal

Since January 2019, every consented assignment of a pre-sold condo or strata lot goes into the Condo and Strata Assignment Integrity Register (CSAIR). The developer files it; the register is run by the same provincial administrator that runs property transfer tax. Here's what gets reported about each assignor and assignee who is an individual, per the Province's information guide:

Source: Government of B.C.: information collection under CSAIR (updated June 15, 2026); REDMA ss.20.3-20.5

Under section 20.5 of REDMA, that information can be used to administer BC's tax laws, shared with other governments under tax information agreements, used for statistics by BC or Canada, and passed to BC Assessment. The government's own presale PTT page puts it plainly: profits from assigning a presale have to be reported, as a capital gain or as income. My read: assume the CRA and the BC flipping tax administrators can see your lift, your SIN and your dates, because the system was built so they can.

Where the lift comes from in 2026

A lift only exists if the finished unit is worth more than the contract price. That's been a hard ask lately. Greater Vancouver's apartment benchmark (MLS® HPI) was $682,500 in September 2026, down 6.2% in a year and 11.1% over three years. Someone who signed a presale in fall 2023 is completing into a resale market priced lower than when they signed. Presales and resales aren't the same product, and the benchmark tracks resale homes, but your assignee will compare the two.

• Up
• Down

1 year−6.2%3 years−11.1%5 years+0.3%10 years+36.8%

Source: Greater Vancouver Realtors, September 2026 stats package

Show the numbers

Period	Change
1 year	−6.2%
3 years	−11.1%
5 years	+0.3%
10 years	+36.8%

The assignee is also choosing between your contract and a finished resale condo they can walk through today. On EstateBlock's live data there were 7,214 condos listed for sale across these eight cities on October 24. These are asking prices of active listings, not sale prices:

Source: EstateBlock.com live listings, snapshot Oct 24, 2026 (Vancouver condos for sale); asking prices of active listings, not sale prices

How I'd use that: before you price an assignment in, say, Brentwood or Metrotown in Burnaby, look at the asking $/sq ft on finished resale condos nearby (Burnaby's median is $877 today), then knock off something for the fact that your buyer waits for completion and carries the risk of delays. If your contract price per square foot is already above that, you may be looking at no lift, or a loss. And a loss on a contract held under 365 days is deemed nil for federal tax under section 12(14) of the Income Tax Act, so you can't even deduct it. EstateBlock's presale condo risk piece covers the wider market side.

The tax stack on the seller (the assignor)

1. GST on the lift

Since May 7, 2022, every assignment of a builder's purchase agreement for a new condo or single-unit home is a taxable supply for GST, under section 192.1 of the Excise Tax Act. It doesn't matter that you're an individual who never meant to flip. GST is 5% in BC.

The part people miss is the deposit. The assignee usually repays your deposit as part of the deal. That repayment comes off the taxable amount only if the assignment agreement says so in writing. If it doesn't, GST is charged on the deposit too. On my example's $70,000 deposit, that's the difference between $3,000 of GST and $6,500. Make sure your lawyer splits the two amounts in the assignment agreement. Under section 221 of the Act, the seller of a taxable supply normally collects the GST from the buyer and remits it; the rules change when the seller is a non-resident. The developer's consent fee is generally taxable as well, per CRA GI-120.

2. The BC home flipping tax

The BC home flipping tax applies to a presale contract if you dispose of it less than 730 days after you entered into it. The clock starts the day you sign and pay the deposit, not at completion. It stops the day you receive the assignee's money. Under 366 days the rate is 20%. From day 366 to 729 it slides down by formula, and at day 730 it's gone.

Three presale-specific rules matter. Presale contracts don't get the $20,000 primary residence deduction. The taxable amount is your proceeds minus your cost to acquire, with no deduction for improvements. And according to the Province's glossary, the costs you can take off the proceeds are legal, appraisal, realtor commission, home inspection and survey costs; a developer's consent fee isn't on that list. You file a separate BC home flipping tax return within 90 days of the assignment. The Province's own example: a $750,000 contract assigned for $800,000 inside a year is a $50,000 gain and $10,000 of tax.

3. Federal income tax

Under section 12(12) of the Income Tax Act, a right to acquire a housing unit held for less than 365 consecutive days is a "flipped property". The gain is business income, fully taxable at your marginal rate, with no 50% inclusion. Past 365 days the deeming rule stops, but that doesn't make the gain a capital gain automatically. Whether it's business income or a capital gain then depends on your facts. For GST, the CRA's GI-120 says an individual's assignment is normally treated as made in the course of an adventure in the nature of trade. That's a GST position, not an income tax ruling, but it tells you how the CRA tends to look at these deals. Both the federal and BC rules carve out life events (death, serious illness, separation of 90+ days, involuntary job loss, insolvency and a few others), but the lists aren't identical and they're administered separately.

Worked example: a $60,000 lift

This is a hypothetical example. Say you sign a $700,000 presale on December 1, 2025 with a 10% deposit ($70,000). On October 26, 2026, day 329, you assign it for a total price of $760,000: the assignee repays your $70,000 deposit and pays you a $60,000 lift plus GST, with the deposit split out in writing. Your contract charges a 1% consent fee ($7,000 plus GST), your lawyer charges $1,500, and you earn $100,000 a year from your job.

Source: Calculated from BC home flipping tax rules, ITA s.12(12), ETA s.192.1 and 2026 federal and BC tax brackets on top of $100,000 of other income, no credits. Hypothetical example; your numbers will differ

Two assumptions sit inside that income tax line. I've treated the consent fee and legal fee as deductible against the business income, and I haven't deducted the BC flipping tax from income for federal purposes. Ask your accountant about both; they move the result by a few thousand dollars either way. The whole calculation shifts again with your other income: here the extra income runs through combined federal-plus-BC brackets from 28.2% up to 40.7%, and about two-thirds of it is taxed at 38.29% or more.

The pattern is the point. On a contract held under a year, the lift gets taxed twice: once by Victoria as a flipping profit and once by Ottawa as business income. Run your own numbers with my capital gains calculator, and see my capital gains tax guide for how the 50% inclusion works when it does apply.

Timing: the day the money moves

Because the BC rate slides daily between day 366 and day 729, the date the assignee's money lands is worth real money. Same $58,500 taxable gain, different days:

Day 300$11,700Day 365$11,700Day 400$10,589Day 450$8,951Day 500$7,371Day 550$5,792Day 600$4,154Day 650$2,574Day 700$936Day 729$59Day 730$0

Source: Government of B.C., pre-sale contracts: rate = 20% x [1 - (days held - 365)/365], rounded to 0.001. Hypothetical example; your numbers will differ

Show the numbers

Day assigned	BC flipping tax
Day 300	$11,700
Day 365	$11,700
Day 400	$10,589
Day 450	$8,951
Day 500	$7,371
Day 550	$5,792
Day 600	$4,154
Day 650	$2,574
Day 700	$936
Day 729	$59
Day 730	$0

Source: Calculated as in the worked example; 50% inclusion per ITA s.38(a) where shown as a capital gain. Whether a gain held 365+ days is business income or a capital gain depends on the facts. Hypothetical example; your numbers will differ

Day 729 costs $59 in BC flipping tax on this gain. Day 300 costs $11,700. The catch: if your building completes before day 730, you either close and own it or assign on the developer's timeline, not yours. And once the strata plan is deposited, the Province no longer treats the unit as pre-sold for PTT, so the assignee's tax is based on fair market value instead.

One exemption is built for presale buyers. If the developer gives you a new estimated completion date in writing that's more than 365 days later than the original written estimate, a disposition is exempt from the BC flipping tax under the life circumstance exemptions. Keep every completion-date notice the developer sends. That exemption is BC-only; the federal 365-day rule has no equivalent for construction delays.

If you're the one buying the assignment

The assignee takes over the original contract price, repays the assignor's deposit, pays the lift and then pays the balance at completion. Three things cost more than people expect.

Property transfer tax is on the total you paid. On a pre-sold strata unit, PTT is based on the total amount paid, including upgrades and any assignment premium, as long as the written agreement and the assignment happen before the strata plan is deposited. After that, normal fair market value rules apply. Use my PTT calculator with the full price.

The lift can push you over an exemption line. The newly built home exemption is full up to $1.1 million and gone at $1.15 million. The federal first-time buyer GST rebate is full up to $1 million and gone at $1.5 million, and its "total consideration" includes what you paid for the assignment (section 254(2) of the Excise Tax Act). Hypothetical example: a $1,080,000 contract assigned with a $50,000 lift to an eligible first-time buyer who will live in it.

Source: Calculated from B.C. PTT rates, newly built home exemption (exemption equation and table: $1,130,000 = $8,240 exemption), pre-sold strata unit rules and ETA s.192.1 and s.254(2)-(2.1). Assumes the buyer qualifies for both, the deposit is split out in writing and the original agreement was signed after March 19, 2025. Hypothetical example; your numbers will differ

So the assignee pays the $50,000 lift and about $19,860 more in PTT and GST than the original buyer would have. Two more traps on the GST side. If the original presale agreement was signed before March 20, 2025, an assignment doesn't reset the date: the agreement is still treated as pre-March 20, 2025, and there's no first-time buyer GST rebate. And if the deposit isn't split out in writing, GST on this lift plus a 10% deposit would be $7,900 instead of $2,500. My GST on new homes post has the full rebate rules, and the BC property transfer tax post has the exemption conditions.

Financing is a completion-day problem. You're qualifying for a mortgage at completion, on a price that includes the lift. If the lender's appraisal comes in below what you paid, the gap comes out of your cash. You also hand the assignor their deposit up front, so a failed completion puts that money at risk too. I'd get a lender to look at the full price before you sign, not after.

A smaller point that favours the assignee: under the BC flipping tax, if you complete and later sell, your clock started on the day you were assigned the contract, not the original buyer's signing date. If a foreign national signs and assigns to a Canadian citizen or permanent resident before registration, the 20% additional PTT doesn't apply, but the Province warns that penalties apply if that's done to avoid tax.

Before you sign either side

1. Read the assignment clause. Is assignment allowed, when, at what consent fee, and can it be marketed publicly?
2. Count your days. Days from signing to the assignee's payment: under 365, both flipping rules apply; from 365 to 729, BC's tax still applies (20% through day 365, then sliding); at 730 and over, BC's tax is gone.
3. Split the deposit in writing. Otherwise GST applies to the deposit reimbursement too.
4. Price against resale. Compare your contract $/sq ft with finished condos nearby on EstateBlock's live asking data, and be realistic about what a buyer pays to wait.
5. Keep every completion-date notice. A written delay of more than 365 days can exempt you from BC's flipping tax.
6. Assignee: re-run PTT, GST and your mortgage on the full price. Including the lift.

My read: assignments still make sense for people whose plans changed, and the life-event and delay exemptions exist for exactly that. As a short-term profit play, the math is much thinner than the headline lift suggests, and the Province now sees every deal. If you hold presales as part of a portfolio, my investor guide and the presale vs resale comparison are the next reads; the general rules for selling a home within two years are in my BC home flipping tax post.

This is general information, not tax or legal advice. Confirm your own situation with an accountant or lawyer before you sign an assignment.

FAQ

Can I assign a presale contract in BC without the developer's consent?

No. If the developer allows assignments at all, REDMA requires the purchase agreement to ban any assignment without the developer's prior consent, and the developer can't consent until it has collected each party's information for the Condo and Strata Assignment Integrity Register.

Does the BC home flipping tax apply to presale assignments?

Yes. It applies if you assign the contract less than 730 days after you entered into it. The rate is 20% under 366 days and slides to zero at day 730. Presale contracts don't get the $20,000 primary residence deduction.

Is GST charged on a presale assignment in BC?

Yes. Since May 7, 2022, assignments of new-home purchase agreements are taxable. GST is 5% of the assignment price, and the deposit reimbursement is excluded only if the assignment agreement says so in writing.

Who pays property transfer tax on a presale assignment?

The assignee, when the unit registers. For a pre-sold strata unit, PTT is based on the total amount paid, including upgrades and the assignment premium.

How is presale assignment profit taxed federally?

If you held the contract under 365 days, the gain is business income and fully taxable under the federal flipping rule, and a loss is deemed nil. After 365 days it may be business income or a capital gain depending on the facts.

Sources

1. Real Estate Development Marketing Act, Part 2.1 Assignment Reporting Requirements (B.C. Laws, current to Oct 20, 2026)
2. Government of B.C.: Condo and Strata Assignment Integrity Register
3. Government of B.C.: Information collection under CSAIR
4. Government of B.C.: Property transfer tax on pre-sold strata units
5. Government of B.C.: Property transfer tax rates
6. Government of B.C.: Newly built home exemption
7. Government of B.C.: Newly built home exemption amounts (equation and table)
8. Government of B.C.: BC home flipping tax
9. Government of B.C.: BC home flipping tax, pre-sale contracts
10. Government of B.C.: BC home flipping tax, life circumstance exemptions
11. Government of B.C.: BC home flipping tax glossary
12. Income Tax Act s.12(12)-(14), flipped property
13. Income Tax Act s.38, taxable capital gain
14. CRA: Residential property flipping rule
15. Excise Tax Act s.192.1, s.221, s.254 (Justice Laws, current to Sept 30, 2026)
16. CRA GI-120: Assignment of a purchase and sale agreement for a new house or condominium unit
17. CRA: 2026 federal tax rates and brackets
18. Government of B.C.: 2026 B.C. personal income tax rates
19. Greater Vancouver Realtors: September 2026 stats package
20. EstateBlock.com: live condo listings (snapshot Oct 24, 2026)
21. EstateBlock blog: presale condos in Vancouver