Toronto’s New Vacant Home Tax

Attention all homeowners! By now you would have gotten notice from the government that you will need to confirm the current status of your residence(s). But why? This hardly seems necessary, right? Well, starting this year a 1% tax (derived from the assessed market value of your home) will be applied to any residence that has been left vacant/unoccupied for a minimum of 6 months in a year or that is not used as a principal residence and is sitting empty.

The municipal government is hoping this new tax will lead to an increase in housing supply as it should theoretically force homeowners to make sure that they fill any vacancies they may have. Whether homeowners will follow suit, or accept the tax is totally up to their discretion.

The deadline to declare the status of your property is February 2nd so if you have not yet completed the declaration, get on it! There is a $250 fine for any city of Toronto homeowner that does not confirm the status of their residence(s) and up to $10,000 in fines for any one found guilty of trying to defraud the government by knowingly lying in their declaration.

You can fill out the declaration online at toronto.ca/vacanthometax