‘Investment’ or ‘business’? B.C. short-term rental owner appeals property assessment [Video]

A B.C. man’s unique claim that his short-term rental unit was not a “business,” but an “investment” for the purposes of his 2024 property assessment has been rejected.

Kenneth Kung challenged the assessment through the province’s Property Assessment Appeal Board, arguing against the split-classification of his Nanaimo condo as part “residential” and part “business or other.”

“We are renting out our condo as an investment and not as a business,” Kung wrote in his appeal.

The board was not persuaded.

In a Nov. 29 decision, panel chair Kenneth Thornicroft noted that properties are considered “business or other” – Class 6 under B.C.’s classification regulations – if used as a short-term rental for a “substantial portion” of the applicable 12-month period used for an assessment.

In this case, that period was from July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023.

Kung’s two-bedroom condo – located in a 21-unit building near the Nanaimo waterfront – was listed as available to rent for 327 days during that time, …