The Nova Scotia government will not move forward with its contentious non-resident property tax after all.
Premier Tim Houston announced Thursday that his government is scrapping the non-resident property tax for all non-residents who own residential property in Nova Scotia.
The announcement comes just two days after Houston said he would scale back the non-resident property tax, which was adopted last month as a way to ease the province’s housing crunch.
“My intentions all along were to improve home affordability, not to be at odds with our core value of being a welcoming province,” said Houston in a news release.
“I have heard for months from Nova Scotians who are concerned about housing affordability and want to be able to buy their first home. I commit to finding a tool to make it more affordable for first-time homebuyers.”
The non-resident deed transfer tax will proceed as planned, however.
Both measures were introduced in the spring budget.
This is a developing story. It will be updated.