Read this first
The planner gives estimates from published rules. Every number comes from data/rules.json and is listed with its source in the Rules tracker. Rules last verified: . Everything is calculated in your browser; nothing you type is sent anywhere.
1. Down payment available and minimum down payment
Available = cash + FHSA balance + HBP withdrawal, where the HBP withdrawal is your RRSP balance capped at ….
Minimum down payment (Government of Canada table):
price ≤ …: 5% × price
… < price < …: 5% × … + 10% × (price − …)
price ≥ …: 20% × price
Simplifications: lender requirements (credit, self-employment, stress test, borrowing room), mortgage-insurance premiums, are not modelled. HBP and FHSA eligibility conditions are not checked.
2. Time to reach the minimum
A month-by-month simulation. Each month your "monthly saving" goes first into the FHSA, limited by the room left this calendar year and the lifetime limit, and the remainder goes to cash. When the calendar year rolls over (January 1) room becomes … plus any unused room carried forward, capped at … of carry-forward. The lifetime limit is …. The simulation stops when cash + FHSA + HBP reaches the minimum down payment, or after 100 years.
Simplifications: no investment growth or interest; no tax refunds from FHSA deductions are reinvested; your FHSA balance is treated as lifetime room already used (growth inside the account would make that slightly conservative or aggressive); the room you enter for this year is used as-is; the target price does not change over time; HBP repayment (15 years, starting in the 5th year after a 2026–2028 first withdrawal) is shown in the Rules tracker but not modelled in the planner.
3. BC property transfer tax (PTT)
tax = 1% × first $200,000 + 2% × ($200,000 to $2,000,000) + 3% × (above $2,000,000) + a further 2% × residential value above $3,000,000
The planner uses the price you enter as fair market value (FMV) and treats the whole property as residential. Not modelled: the additional property transfer tax for foreign entities/taxable trustees, partial-interest transfers, mixed-use property, and other exemptions (for example the newly built home exemption, which has its own thresholds).
4. BC first-time home buyers' exemption
For properties registered on or after April 1, 2024, the planner follows the Province's published exemption-amount table and the Property Transfer Tax Act (s. 5):
- FMV of … or less: the exemption equals the whole tax, so PTT is $0.
- FMV over … up to and including …: the exemption is a flat $8,000 (the tax on the first $500,000). You still pay tax on the rest — for example $6,700 on an $835,000 home.
- FMV over … and under …: the $8,000 is reduced in proportion.
exemption = $8,000 × (… − FMV) ÷ $25,000
- FMV of … or more: no exemption.
How this was checked: the planner's output is tested (tests/calc.test.mjs) at every $1,000 step of FMV from $500,000 to $870,000 against the exemption amounts in the Province's table as read on the verified date (including the $500,000, $835,000 and $860,000 boundaries and the proportional reduction), and the formula was compared with the Act's wording. BC's own hosted "estimate your property transfer tax" tool was not used, and the Province's separate calculation-examples page was not used as a test case.
Simplifications: all buyers are assumed to qualify (if only some do, the exemption is prorated by their share of ownership); property assumed 0.5 hectares or less with only residential improvements (otherwise a different, partial calculation applies); eligibility is not checked — you must be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, have lived in BC for a year or filed two BC tax returns in the last six years, never have held a registered interest in land (in BC or elsewhere) that was your principal residence, never have received the exemption or a refund before, and — for the property — live in it as your principal residence starting within 92 days of registration and continuing to at least the first anniversary. Read the definitions in the Act and the Province's program page, and check with your lawyer or notary.
- "Full exemption" wording. The Province's program page says a qualifying buyer is "exempt from property transfer tax on the first $500,000 of the purchase price" and says a home at or under $835,000 gets a "full exemption", while its exemption-amount page and the Act show the exemption is capped at $8,000 above a $500,000 FMV. Many summaries (and an earlier draft of this planner) read it as "no tax up to $835,000". The planner follows the amount table and the Act, which give the lower exemption.
- Form FIN 265. The Province's refund application (Rev. 2025/1/29) calculates the exemption on lines B3–B5 as the buyers' percentage × the full tax on line B2, with no visible $500,000 / $8,000 cap. Read literally this conflicts with the amount table. The form predates or does not mirror the 2024 changes; we treated the Act and the amount table as controlling. Neither the form nor the program page has been confirmed with the Province.
- Dates on the sources differ. The program page says "last updated June 20, 2025"; the exemption-amount and PTT pages say December 3, 2025. If either page changes, update
data/rules.json. - New builds. We did not verify whether the FMV used for PTT on a new home is before or after GST. The planner uses the price you enter for both PTT and GST.
- Who confirms. For a real purchase, your lawyer or notary files the PTT return and applies the exemption; the Province's PTT enquiries line (236-478-1593) can confirm an amount.
5. New-home GST and the first-time buyer rebate
Only applies if you tick "Buying a new home". GST = … × price (the price is assumed to be before GST). With "first-time buyer" ticked, the federal first-time home buyers' rebate is:
price ≤ …: rebate = min(…, GST)
… < price < …: rebate = min(…, GST) × (… − price) ÷ $500,000
price ≥ …: no rebate
For prices up to $1,000,000 this refunds all of the GST. The combined effect with the older GST/HST new housing rebate is treated as one amount. Simplifications: the rebate only applies to a new or substantially renovated home bought from a builder under an agreement signed on or after March 20, 2025 and before 2031, that you will occupy as your primary residence and you are the first to occupy; the federal definition of "first-time home buyer" is separate from BC's PTT definition and the two can give different answers (check the CRA page), but the planner uses one checkbox for both; who claims the rebate (builder credit or CRA application) and timing are not modelled; resale homes pay no GST.
6. Total cash needed at closing
Total = down payment + PTT payable + net GST + "other closing costs". The down payment used is the minimum if you have not yet reached it, otherwise what you currently have. "Other closing costs" (legal, inspection, adjustments, title insurance, and so on) is an editable placeholder you should replace with your own quote — it is not a sourced figure. Mortgage insurance premiums, moving costs and strata or property-tax adjustments are not included.
7. How the rules are kept current
All thresholds live in one file, data/rules.json, each with its source link and a verified-on date. The "last verified" date shown on every page is the oldest verified-on date in that file, so it can never overstate freshness; if it is older than 90 days a warning banner appears.