First Time Home Buyers May Pay More Toronto Home Buying Tax

TORONTO — The Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) is sounding the alarm over a potential proposal that would see first-time home buyers in Toronto paying more Toronto Home Buying Tax (Land Transfer Tax). TREB is responding to published comments indicating that the City's Budget Committee may consider a proposal to eliminate the Toronto Home Buying Tax on the first $200,000 value of a property, for all home buyers, but to also eliminate the current rebate that relieves first-time home buyers from paying Home Buying Tax on the first $400,000 value of a property. This potential proposal, if implemented, would result in first-time home buyers paying more home buying tax than what they currently pay.
In a letter to the City's Budget Committee, TREB pointed out that many first time home buyers are already being forced to pay thousands of dollars in Home Buying Tax because the first-time buyer rebate has not kept pace with inflation. Currently, this rebate caps out on a $400,000 property, but the current average price of a home in Toronto is approximately $570,000, and rising. As a result, approximately 40 percent of first-time buyers pay some Home Buying Tax to City Hall, according to City staff reports. www.trebnet.com.