Course

Real Estate Taxation

Faculty
Commerce and Business Administration
Department
Accounting
Course code
ACCT 3570
Credits
3.00
Semester length
15 Weeks
Max class size
35
Method(s) of instruction
Online
Hybrid
Lecture
Seminar
Course designation
None
Industry designation
None
Typically offered
To be determined

Overview

Course description
This course provides an introduction to Canadian taxation topics related to the real estate industry. Building on introductory corporate and individual taxation topics, this course explores the tax consequences of real estate purchases and sales, effective tax structuring and planning in the real estate industry, sales and other indirect taxes, and financing issues. This course explores the taxation of resident and non-residents holding Canadian real estate.
Course content
  • Review of the Canadian Taxation system as it pertains to individuals, corporations, trusts, and partnerships, including:
    • Taxation of Aggregate investment income (AII), including rental income.
    • Real estate as business income and capital property.
    • Capital cost allowance (CCA).
  • Real estate development, purchases, and sales.
  • Changes in use of properties.
  • Tax structuring for real estate - Partnerships, trusts, and corporations.
  • Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs).
  • Financing issues for real estate companies.
  • Tenant and leasing issues.
    • Tenant inducements.
    • Lease cancellations.
    • Rent-free periods.
  • Tax incentives for real estate.
  • Sales (GST/HST) and other indirect taxes, including property transfer taxes and speculation and vacancy taxes.
  • Non-residents and Canadian real estate.
Learning activities

Lecture and/or seminar

All methods of instruction apply to in class, hybrid and/or online modes of learning.

Means of assessment

Assessment will be based on course objectives and will be carried out in accordance with the Douglas College Evaluation Policy. An evaluation schedule is presented at the beginning of the course. Instructors may use a student’s record of attendance and/or level of active participation in the course as part of the student’s graded performance. Where this occurs, expectations and grade calculations regarding class attendance and participation will be clearly defined in the Instructor Course Outline.

Assignment(s) and/or discussion posts and/or quizzes 15%-25%
Term project(s) and/or case studies 10%-20%
In-Class work and/or in-class assignments and/or participation 5%-10%
Midterm Examination 25%
Final Examination (Cumulative) 35%
Total 100%

Students must write the midterm examination and the final examination to obtain credit for the course. 

Students may conduct research as part of their coursework in this class. Instructors for the course are responsible for ensuring that student research projects comply with College policies on ethical conduct for research involving humans, which can require obtaining Informed Consent from participants and getting the approval of the Douglas College Research Ethics Board prior to conducting the research.

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, the successful student should be able to:

  • Evaluate tax law and procedures to solve various taxation issues for corporations, partnerships, and trusts in the real estate industry;
  • Demonstrate knowledge of special topics pertaining to taxation in the real estate industry;
  • Demonstrate how to obtain tax information to solve issues with regards to taxation in the real estate industry;
  • Analyze transactions in the real estate industry for the application of sales and other indirect taxes;
  • Evaluate various organizational structures in the real estate industry for tax efficiency.
Textbook materials

Clarence Byrd and Ida Chen.  Canadian Tax Principles, latest edition, Pearson Education Canada. 

OR other textbooks as approved by the Accounting department.

AND Instructor selected material relevant to real estate taxation.

Requisites

Prerequisites

ACCT 3370 with a minimum grade of C

Corequisites

None 

Equivalencies

None 

Course Guidelines

Course Guidelines for previous years are viewable by selecting the version desired. If you took this course and do not see a listing for the starting semester / year of the course, consider the previous version as the applicable version.

(Current)

Course Transfers to Other Institutions

Below are current transfer agreements from Douglas College to other institutions for the current course guidelines only. For a full list of transfer details and archived courses, please see the BC Transfer Guide.

Institution Transfer details for ACCT 3570
Acsenda School of Management (ASM) ASM GEN 3XX (3)
Alexander College (ALEX) ALEX COMM 2XX (3)
Athabasca University (AU) AU TAXX 3XX (3)
Camosun College (CAMO) CAMO ACCT 3XX (3)
College of New Caledonia (CNC) CNC ACC 2XX (3)
College of the Rockies (COTR) COTR ACCT 2XX (3)
Fairleigh Dickinson University (FDU) FDU ACCT 1XXX (3)
Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) No credit
LaSalle College Vancouver (LCV) LCV BUS 2XX (3)
Thompson Rivers University (TRU) TRU ACCT 3XXX (3)
University Canada West (UCW) UCW ACCT 3XX (3)
University of Northern BC (UNBC) No credit
University of the Fraser Valley (UFV) UFV BUS 3XX (3)
Yorkville University (YVU) YVU BUSIE XXX (3)

Course Offerings

Summer 2026

CRN Days Instructor Status
Maximum seats
35
Currently enrolled
0
Remaining seats:
35
On waitlist
0
Building
Online
Room
ONLINE
Times:
-
Section notes

ACCT 3570 090 - This is an online asynchronous course. The course will take place online and will be guided, self-paced learning with set deadlines.