From 17 September, corporations and trusts that acquire property in British Columbia must disclose the identity of any individual with a 'significant interest' in the corporation or trust.

The required information – name, date of birth, citizenship, contact details, and either social insurance numbers or tax identifiers for all such persons – must be included on the property transfer tax returns. The names of company directors and trust settlors must also be supplied.

The data will be treated as confidential, says the BC government.

The rule, enacted under the Information Collection Regulation 2018, is at least partly inspired by BC's continually widening tax net for property purchasers. In March this year, the provincial government announced that property transfer tax was being extended to transfers of beneficial ownership of land, not just registered transfers of legal ownership as previously. At the same time the additional property transfer tax on foreign buyers of residential property was increased from 15 to 20 per cent, with an extra 2 per cent marginal rate for residential properties sold for more than CAD3 million. The province's finance minister Carole James claims BC had developed a reputation as an attractive place to anonymously invest and hide wealth.

The amended Property Transfer Tax Return will be available online before the effective date of 17 September. Foreign nationals must also declare their liability to the surtax by completing the FIN 532 Additional Property Transfer Tax Return.