People with vacant homes in Toronto could be hit with new tax to help cool housing market
People with a vacant home in Toronto could be hit with a new tax designed to help cool the housing market.
On Tuesday, city council's executive committee approved a tax design and implementation plan on vacant Toronto homes starting in 2022.
"The goal of the tax is to change the behaviours of vacant home homeowners, encouraging them to sell or rent out the homes, thereby increasing the housing supply," the city said in a news release.
If approved by city council, a bylaw supporting the tax would come into effect on January 1, 2022, and that date would also become the start of the first tax reference year.
According to the city, the initial tax rate being recommended is one per cent of the property's current value assessment (CVA) for the year in which the home is vacant.
The city said they don’t know how many homes in Toronto are currently vacant, but using Vancouver’s tax metrics, the new law could bring in $55 to $66 million per year.
The tax reference year is the year that determines whether the tax is payable, the city says. The tax would become payable for the first time in early 2023, based on the occupancy status during the prior reference year.
The city said a home is considered vacant if it has been unoccupied for more than six months during the previous calendar year.
Some exemptions to this include death of the owner, the homeowner is under medical care, or the home is undergoing renovation.
As part of the tax design, property owners will be required to declare the status of their residential home each year.
Certain properties may be selected for audit on a random or specific criteria basis, the city says.
If approved, a final report and bylaw will be prepared for council’s review by the end of 2021.
"A vacant home tax will result in a much needed increase to Toronto's housing supply, so I’m happy to see it approved today," Mayor John Tory said in a news release. "We simply can't afford to have housing for thousands of homes sitting empty."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.