Property Tax Relief for Tourist Accommodations
The province is offering property tax help for certain tourism businesses but with lots of strings attached.
The assistance is for hotel, motel, and inn operators who are are hurting because of COVID-19.
The Tourism Accommodations Real Property Tax Rebate Program, which opens November 16th, will provide qualified operators a 25 per cent rebate on 2020-21 commercial property tax.
“We know that hotels, motels, and inns have immediate cash flow needs because of the decline in visitors due to COVID-19,” said Geoff MacLellan, Minister of Business. “They are facing commercial tax bills assessed on the previous year’s revenues with a significantly reduced ability to pay.”
However, to be eligible, a business must meet the definition of a roofed accommodation as set out in the Tourist Accommodation Registration Act, must be registered as a host under the act, have more than five rooms, and have paid their tax bill in full before applying.
Further, qualified operators must have incurred a year-over-year revenue loss for room accommodation of greater than 30 per cent from April 1 to October 31 of this year compared to same period last year.
New operators, who were not in business before April 1, 2020, may still be entitled to a rebate if they can demonstrate lower than 50 per cent occupancy rate since opening their business.
Nova Scotia’s official opposition says the move is too little too late. PC Leader Tim Houston says, “ I don’t understand why it took this long.” Houston added, “The federal government sent $228 million to our province for COVID-19 aid, and the province still will not tell Nova Scotians where that money is going. Just last week, the Liberals were caught playing favourites and giving money to companies with Liberal lobbyists, all while leaving small and medium tourism operators with nothing.”
Earlier in May, Houston’s party called for short-term commercial rent relief with a no-eviction backstop. They also suggested a $200 tax deduction for every Nova Scotian tax filer to boost hospitality spending.
Assistance with property tax is just the tip of the iceberg as the tourism industry is deeply hurting in Nova Scotia. The industry is expected to generate $900 million in 2020, compared to nearly $2.7 billion last year. Occupancy rates have been down, on average, about m56 percent this season.
Close to 50,000 people, about five percent of the province’s workforce, are employed in tourism.
Detailed information on eligibility is available at https://novascotia.ca/coronavirus/support/#support-for-business.
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