An Etobicoke homeowner said he was shocked to get a notice from the City of Toronto saying his property taxes were more than $8,000 behind.
Lorenzo Policelli said he thought the payments were being made because when he checked his tax account it was up to date.
“When I go online it shows the payments were made,” Policelli said, speaking to CTV News Toronto.
For some reason the home's previous owner paid Policelli’s taxes by mistake, he said.
“In September of last year the previous owners started erroneously paying on my tax account even though they hadn't been here [living in the house] in over 6 years."
Policelli said the city refunded the former owner, who paid the taxes in error, and now wants him to pay the outstanding amount right away.
In a letter to Policelli, Toronto’s tax department said, “The previous owner made tax payments to this property in error. We request that you please submit payment in the amount of $8,260...by October 4th, 2019."
While he understands that he owes the tax payments, Policelli said it feels it's unfair that he has to pay it all at once and be charged interest and penalties if he doesn't.
“They took one payment out from me. I’m happy to give the other payments but in five monthly payments as I agreed to, not all at once," he said.
When CTV News Toronto reached out to the city’s tax department, they took another look at the situation. The city agreed to allow Policelli time to make monthly payments and avoid interest charges or penalties.
That was great news for him. Policelli told CTV News “We came to a resolution. They saw the light!"
