Have you heard about the Municipal Land Transfer Tax?

Currently, as a home buyer you will pay a Provincial Land Transfer Tax.  This adds thousands to the home purchase.  This may change in the future if the province grants Municipalities the authority to collect additional tax revenues by way of a Municipal Land Transfer Tax.  Toronto buyers currently pay a Provincial and a Municipal Land Transfer Tax adding an average of $12,000 to the home purchase.  Keep in mind that the tax is based on a percentage of the purchase price.   The same calculation done for a $300,000 home in Kingston would be approximately $2,975 for the Provincial Land Transfer Tax and then and additional $2,720 for the Municipal Land Transfer Tax (assuming the same percentage rate as Toronto is charged)

The spread of the Municipal Land Transfer Tax throughout the province threatens to increase the total cost of home ownership.  The additional tax dollars is for the benefit for all citizens and to fund all municipal services, not just home buyers.  This additional tax burden on Buyers will have a trickle down affect on consumer spending.

OREA Position
Ontario REALTORS® oppose the municipal LTT. Simply put, the tax is fundamentally unfair, bad for the economy and is an unreliable source of local revenue that has implications for provincial tax revenue.”

The good news is that when the candidates for the recent municipal election (Kingston, Gananoque, Stone Mills Township, Napanee) were questioned whether they supported such a tax, an overwhelming number said no.  Time will tell whether this is true.  At the very least you will know more about this potential additional tax burden.

Don’t Tax My Dream with MLLT

 

 

 

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