Property Tax

Lawson Lundell’s Property Tax Group helps taxpayers throughout western Canada resolve their property tax issues. Frequently writing and lecturing on property tax matters to business professionals, we have extensive experience helping clients structure their affairs to minimize property tax, negotiating property tax assessments with BC Assessment and with taxing jurisdictions, appealing assessments to the Board and British Columbia Courts where necessary, and negotiating property tax related issues with taxing jurisdictions and the Province of B.C.

Our property tax lawyers have extensive experience in all aspects of property assessment and taxation law, practice and policy, advising all manner of clients including commercial clients (utility companies, real estate holding and development companies, golf clubs, commercial mall anchor tenants, small businesses), industrial clients (smelters, mines, forestry companies, pulp and paper mills, bulk terminals, barge loading facilities) and individuals.

Our property tax lawyers also have extensive experience in other taxation and valuation-focused matters including expropriation compensation actions; commercial lease rent review and renewal arbitration and appeals of social service tax assessments, mineral tax assessments, and property transfer tax assessments.

Experience

The types of issues we have assisted clients with include:

• Value, classification and remediation issues for industrial sites converted to major mixed use residential and commercial developments
• Value and classification of major and light industrial land and improvements of refineries, mines, pulp and paper mills; lumber remanufacturing plants; barge loading facilities; railway yards, track in place and rights of way; pipelines and rights of way; bulk shipping terminals and container terminals
• Commissioner’s rate appeals of fibre optic cable rates
• Procurement or defence of property tax exemptions for non-profit organizations
• Challenges to the scope of powers of the Property Assessment Appeal Board
• Management of disclosure of confidential and commercial sensitive information
• Negotiation of terms of legislative changes

Team