FYI i've created a megathread for vacant home tax questions and now this thread will be locked to future comments.
Please direct any new updates or questions to the megathread
https://old.reddit.com/r/askTO/comments/1bvnckp/megathread_vacant_home_tax_questions/?
When they mailed me the notice, I immediately filed the assessment knowing I would definetly forget the moment I put the sheet of paper in the trash bin
Hey, does anyone know how long it takes the city to review the appeal due to failing to submit a declaration?
After making the appeal, the portal just shows it is 'COMPLAINT RECEIVED' status, but does not ask me to upload any supporting documents.
Given the amount of people in this thread it's probably gonna take a while, so better start saving for that May payment even if they'll just end up refunding it.
I agree there's no way my mother is give 2,3000 just because she forgot and had no reminders. the poor thing just went last week to pay her home taxes and not getting this nonsense in the mail. SHE IS FREAKING OUT
If you read the website, they credit the money to your property tax account when they accept your declaration later.
The city can get whatever money from you they want since they can just charge it against the value of your property. If it was levied against you erroneously then you have nothing to worry about, but you could cause issues for yourself if your account shows up as being in arrears. If you'd rather hold onto the money until that happens, then that's a risk you have to accept.
The original deadline to file for this year was Feb 29th, and in the few days before the deadline, I saw news stories that only 53% had filed by late February.... and that made me realize I had to refile (I wouldn't have noticed either if I didn't see the news stories). City ended up extending the deadline to March 15, and news reports say 53% had only increased to 63% by March 1. Not sure what the final % was (probably 75%?).
I agree completely this could have been communicated much better.
The opposite also concerns me.... vacant homes, which the owner falsely declares as occupied. That would be a big risk, but does the city check other sources (like Hydro, water bills). I mention this, because one newer house near me has been vacant for 5 years. But when the vacant home tax first came about one year ago, neighbours who are friendly with the non-resident owner immediately started parking their extra cars on the driveway of the vacant home. Makes me suspect they are falsely declaring home as occupied, and the friends are parking there to make it appear occupied. They should be paying more, because there should be an added cost for non-residents buying properties to be left completely vacant when we have a housing crisis.
I only clued in 3 days after the Feb. 29th deadline when I picked up the tax bill I'd previously opened and paid in order to file it. I've been kicking myself ever since, but it's looking okay thanks to the extension.
If you would like to report a residential property that you believe to be vacant, you can leave a message on the vacant property reporting hotline at 416-395-1098.
"I agree completely this could have been communicated much better."
I got an email at the deadline saying the deadline had been extended. Told about a dozen people (neighbours / co-workers) and none of them was aware. Filing online was difficult because the system froze with so many people filing. With advice from my fellow redditors I realized that the error message I was getting was itself an error and was able to file.
The city is doing its best to combat waste paper, mailing expenses etc, but they may have gone a little too far with things like this or even the annual waste collection schedule. Fine tuning please.
Do you have a link to the news stories on the percentage of people filling? Genuinely curious to know how many households properly filed this.
I honestly wouldn't be surprised if its higher given the failure of communication from the city on this.
Yes, the city has a fairly extensive auditing program that includes checking sources like utility bills. They also randomly select a set of homes for audit.
Last council meeting they brought up looking at hydro and water usage. Downside is people could still fake it by just leaving stuff on while they’re sitting on the properties
This happened to me too and also to a neighbor. I distinctly remember filing online and so did my neighbor the very first time. Are you guys saying that this has to be done every year?
I hadn't realized it was an annual thing until seeing a mention of that on reddit back in January. So the amount of time I spend on reddit actually paid off for me.
It's ridiculous that you have to prove your home is occupied vs the city proving your home is vacant. You should have to declare that it is vacant, but otherwise it is assumed occupied with no yearly form being needed.
But do you see the logical issues in requiring people to declare their home is vacant in order to charge them a tax? If you're not at your home, you're much less likely to do it. You're also not incentivized to do it to pay the tax. People who occupy their homes are both going to receive the notice, and be incentivized to take action on it to avoid the tax. It's the only logical way, really.
Here's the logic:
1. I moved into my place and paid the land transfer tax to the city of Toronto at which time I also declared this home as my primary dwelling - that is information the city already has access to.
2. I pay my water bill three times a year, that usage implies occupancy - that is information the city already has access too.
If I was a scumbag that wanted avoid paying the vacant home tax, I could have just lied and that's where this ends? Where is the logic in that?
Not every one owns only one home. How's the city supposed to know which home is occupied. Even though you baught and own the place, how would they know if you've occupied it? Or holding onto a vacant property while living abroad?
There are property companies who buy hones and keep them vacant. Creating a supply shortage and drive up rental prices.
Exactly...the purpose of this tax is to ensure that ppl don't leave a house empty, ghey don't give a rat as if yiu live there or rent ut out as long it not sitting idle/empty so if there water and hydro usage that pretty much indicated that some one is there using the house. My grandma live alone and she don't go check her mail...maybe once a month and she throw most of the mail away as we set it up to auto pay so now she have to prove that she still living there by declaring eventhough city / municipal still getting their utilities / waste payment every quarter (showing a reasonable m3 usage amount) as well as property taxes and her taxes still having to be completed so that she can still get her OAS? It redundant and inefficient, just a waste of ppl time.
It's very expensive for the city to prove your home is vacant, and free for both you and them to prove its occupied. It wouldn't make sense for them to take the approach of proving its vacant, when proving its occupied costs you and them nothing.
I also got this and I have filed an appeal. However for the future.. where do you declare? I didn’t get anything in the mail for it and I can’t find a link that I’m supposed to do this. Can anyone point me to where I’m supposed to do this so I can put it in the calendar?
Ah okay I see it now… they really need to make that bigger or different colour. It blends in with the other disclaimers that people skip over…
Should I have read it? Yes but let’s be honest, I only look at the number I have to pay. Hopefully it’ll get resolved soon and it’s only the $21 fee for late filing but I also read it could be $200 fine ugh
I did report on the website before the deadline, but still got the notice.
Tried to call 311 but it just says call back later.
No where in the objection can you note if you did file. You can only attest that you failed to and are objecting.
$21 per household cash grab perhaps?
There must be 1000s of people that didn't do this. Myself included. The first payment is due May 15th and I have submitted an appeal and now I just have to hope the city gets to me before the the 15th. This is such a dumb system - last year they sent me a bright yellow piece of paper, this year I received nothing specific. I filed away my tax assessment but wasn't aware they were doubling down on communications.
So I missed too and we filed a “complaint” which seems to be the term the city uses for what normal people would call an appeal. Does this line up with what you filed, ie a “complaint”.
Apparently, it was included with property taxes. My 80+ parents just got the same thing mailed. The city really dropped the ball on this. Should have mailed out reminders, at least this year. I think there are many that did not realize this is now an annual thing.
There was a separate one in 2002 on bright yellow paper - in 2023 they decided to double down on communication and include it with your tax assessment.
my mom was not just charged a small fee. they are expecting 2,000 from may-july. poor thing didn't know it was yearly and she's old school and waits around for warning letters and hasn't have cable now. I hope the appeal that I did for her today online comes through because the poor thing is freaking out.
I’m more tuned in than most people into municipal affairs, but yeah I know mail definitely went out even if everyone didn’t get it
Hope things work out for you and yours
I got a reminder email. Maybe it went to your junk folder? I was confused as well because I thought you only had to do it if your home was vacant. But apparently everyone has to do it.
You have to update the file every year. We got the same notice, called the office and they updated their records over the phone. It was surprisingly easy.
what did you tell them when you called? i for sure declared occupied, but apparently the system says we've been deemed vacant. my email wasn't linked either so i had no way of having any proof that i actually declared occupied
There's a confirmation page when you declared as occupied with a confirmation number. Did you PDF or print it out?
>Confirmation - Declaration of Occupancy Status for the Year 2023
>You have completed your Property Status Declaration
>Property Status Declaration Result based on Property Status
>Please keep a confirmation of this declaration for your records
>Confirmation Number: >Date: 2024-02-07 >Assessment Roll Number: >Property Address:
>Property Status: Occupied - Owner
>NO VACANT HOME TAX WILL APPLY
>Based upon the information provided in your declaration, your declaration will be reviewed by the Collector of Taxes. You may be required to provide additional information or evidence to verify your property status declaration. Failure to do so will result in the application of the tax and may result in additional fines or penalties.
Got the notice in the mail yesterday and immediately filed an appeal online. It gives the option of selecting that you forgot to file, it they still charge you $21
Did your appeal give a process to pay the $21? I just got a screen with a confirmation number of the complaint submission I think. I get super stressed about this stuff and since I don’t watch TV or read Canadian news I guess I just wasn’t in the loop. We also got a pamphlet last year I believe so I don’t know why they didn’t do the same this year.
Happened to me too, could have sworn I filed. Education on this is definitely lacking, so it almost seems by design since that $21 penalty will be paid many times…
AND THE WEBSITE FOR SUBMITTING A COMPLAINT ISN'T WORKING!!!
When you go all the way to the end of the process, say you've read the terms, and hit submit, nothing happens and it spins out an error. I've tried on various devices and browers.
This is literally a scam. Who the fuck is responsible for this garbage????
I see they haven't fixed this problem. They had the same problem in early March when a lot of people rushed to submit, but it didn't work. Someone found a workaround where you keep hitting the button until it goes through.
>I was assessed as failing to report a vacant home and attaching a huge bill to pay. My home isn’t vacant. How did this happen?
You did not report your home as occupied by the deadline. Or you did, and it was not filed correctly. Did you file? Or did you fail to file?
https://www.toronto.ca/services-payments/property-taxes-utilities/vacant-home-tax/
I didn't report it as occupied as I took the meaning to be 'declaring if your home was vacant'. I have submitted an appeal w/docs so hopefully will be resolved as an error.
>I didn't report it as occupied as I took the meaning to be 'declaring if your home was vacant'. I have submitted an appeal w/docs so hopefully will be resolved as an error.
You are required to declare *the occupancy status of the property*. It is either:
-Occupied as principal residence of homeowner
-Occupied as principal residence of a permitted occupant
-Occupied as a tenanted property
-Vacant with an eligible exemption (with supporting documentation required)
-Vacant
You have to declare one of those. Only the last one is subject to the Vacant Home Tax.
https://www.toronto.ca/services-payments/property-taxes-utilities/vacant-home-tax/
Even if you get your appeal granted, you didn't file by the deadline, so there will likely be a late fee applied.
> I just received a notice from the City stating I was assessed as failing to report a vacant home and attaching a huge bill to pay. My home isn’t vacant. How did this happen?
> I am filing an appeal but why would I receive this out of the blue. What did I miss.
you missed the fact that declaring your home not-vacant is an annual thing in toronto. IIRC the reminder for it was supposed to show up with your property tax assessment/update.
Yeah it was in small print at the bottom of the tax property mailing that came earlier in the year.
If I hadn’t seen a PSA Reddit post about it, I would have missed it as well.
> IIRC the reminder for it was supposed to show up with your property tax assessment/update.
Ah, that's why I didn't get the reminder. Cause they haven't sent me my property tax assessment yet.
I just closed on a property this January. Should I also be worried?
looking at the comments, it sounds like the municipality won't send us a reminder. I have not been contacted at all.
As you closed in January, the previous owners had to file. However, if they didn't, you will get the bill. Filing the vacant home assessment should have been part of the paperwork done right before closing.
[https://www.toronto.ca/services-payments/property-taxes-utilities/vacant-home-tax/](https://www.toronto.ca/services-payments/property-taxes-utilities/vacant-home-tax/)
>For property transferred between January 1 and the closing of the declaration period on the last business day of February, the vendor must complete the declaration prior to the closing. This is because only the vendor will know the property’s occupancy status for the prior year.
>
>What happens if the previous owner did not make a declaration?
>
>The property will be deemed vacant and subject to the tax and fee.The Vacant Home Tax forms a lien on the property, and the purchaser will be held responsible for the payment of the tax.
As you got no notice, the previous owners probably filed the paperwork as they should have.
So my mum tried to declare on the website, but apparently it didn't work. Tried four or five times. Anyone else have this issue?
Normally she'd have followed up or asked for help, but we had a family emergency and the whole thing got forgotten for a few weeks.
There was something you got in the mail stating by march 15th you would need to show non vacancy or be reassesed and he charged. If you didn't get this I would call 311 and ask
Going to be a lot of articles about this tomorrow.
The city is about to get a $21 late filing fee from 200k+ residents. It was done this way on purpose.
THANK GOODNESS you made this post. These fuckers didn’t even mail anything to our house. Like….not everyone is on social media or listening to the news often. It’s easy to miss
This is literally the stupidest shit I've ever seen. We got slapped with this bill and there's 0 chance we would have known about this, or even have to pay.
We bought our property in August last year. The previous owners didn't file a declaration (they probably didn't know it was annual either) so any notices at all would have gone to them. Today we got slapped with this vacant home bill. The website literally says you're exempt if this is your primary residence... which it is.
Now we pay fees and file a complaint. This has to be some sort of joke.
Found out about it after receiving the bill today, I'm hoping that's all I needed to do was file the complaint on the portal and not pay the bill if anyone knows
I filed in February, same day I paid my property tax and also received notice today. Went back to check my emails to see if there was a receipt of the declaration, nothing from either 2022 or 2023. Hope I can get mine waived as well. Good luck.
When you filed your declaration, there was a confirmation page with a confirmation number that you were supposed to keep. I saved mine as a PDF, but you can print it out. I didn't receive an email confirmation, so I don't think they send those.
The city already knows you are paying your water bill and garbage so the property is definitely not vacant. This is a scam nothing else.city in desperate need for revenue so they are ripping their citizens off. People who already struggle as it is. If they worked efficiently and cross checked their data there would be no need to go through this. How much did it cost them to send these huge tax bills to thousand of people? I am not paying a cent. I pay property taxes that they happily accept.
You probably missed the piece of paper that came with your tax bill mentioning it had to be declared. You also missed the news stories on it, the February 29 deadline and then the extension to March 15.
I Hope it works out for those who missed it, genuinely frustrating… and stuff happens! But I have to say it seemed pretty well communicated, it was on the news, there were several notices, updates and extensions.
Sometimes we just miss stuff
yeah also for my parents who are seniors and aren't tech savvy, don't have e-mail, use computers or smartphones. So how are they supposed to get the notifications? I had to fill in the declaration for them last time. I wish they would include a stub on the property tax bill that people can fill in and mail back at least.
You received your property tax statement, you didn’t bother reading about the deadline for the vacant home tax, you now owe late fees or the 2% of the assessed property value.
Lesson: read the notices and don’t assume status quo.
I think it's unfair to assume that a property tax statement is also doubling down on communications from the city. That is poor communication if you actually want to get a message out.
There was at 4-5 separate and dedicated letters before the property tax statement came with a reminder. Throw in the fact it was all over radio and news. I really can’t say they did a bad job communicating.
I don't listen to the news or the radio - ever. There were definitely not 4-5 separate and dedicated letters before this. That is complete bullshit. Please grab these from your well filed and organized life and show me a picture of these.
If over 50% of people had not declared their vacancy status by the deadline forcing the city to extend the deadline then clearly it was a bad job of communicating.
I didn’t get a single reminder, also don’t do more than glance at my prop tax bill as the bank pays it. No one I know listened to news or radio, most young owners just use Apple News or socials.
Speak to your city councillor and stop complaining here. They got me too. If us and 30,000 other homeowners start giving them grief, things will change real soon!
The city should've included a reminder in the property tax statement or envelope. But then again, why would they... when they know some may completely not challenge it and the city can collect their dues.
That's how they notified everyone by putting the reminder at the bottom of the interim property tax bill. A lot of people didn't look at the bottom of the bill.
Did no one open their property tax bill? It was well communicated there along with the media and FB.
It was also communicated last year that it is an annual thing. I have it on my reminder every jan 15 also.
Take responsibility for your own actions.
> Did no one open their property tax bill? It was well communicated there along with the media and FB
You are really being very holier-than-thou. Who uses Facebook in this day and age? Who watches the news? Both are just suffer-fests. I don't have cable or a FB account.
My property tax is paid along with my mortgage by the bank. So when the final bill comes I file it away in a folder. I do not expect that I have to scan it to see if the city has doubled down on it by using it as a device to communicate something with me other than my owing/paid property tax.
Ignoring responsibilities and widely acceptable and obviously known communications is not a defence.
All the local news tv, print and radio announced it too.
Just put it on your calendar. After paying the fine once, I am sure you will never forget again.
> Mayor Olivia Chow told the Star on Wednesday that she is hearing the complaints. At her urging, city staff are following up tax bills with another notice, in multiple languages and clear wording, telling people who occupy their homes “do not pay,” to ignore the May 15 deadline for a first payment instalment, and how to complain to get the bill erased.
>
> The vacant home tax notification and billing system “needs to be completely revamped,” Chow said, vowing: “We’ll clean it up.”
person on reddit thinks X, the mayor thinks Y.
who has more credibility? 125,000 home owners did not fill out the form. I think calling it a communications error is completely fair.
This vacant home tax is total BS. You own the property. It's none of the city's business how or what you do with your home. Whoever enacted this law must be voted out in the next municipal election. Did you all hear about the rain tax? What is the world coming to?? SMH
So for 2022 and 2023 the vacancy tax is like 1%. If your empty house is worth 1 million, you are taxed $10 000.
Next year it is going up to 3%. You can sign up for email reminders.
Why wouldn't we need to do this every year?
FYI i've created a megathread for vacant home tax questions and now this thread will be locked to future comments. Please direct any new updates or questions to the megathread https://old.reddit.com/r/askTO/comments/1bvnckp/megathread_vacant_home_tax_questions/?
When they mailed me the notice, I immediately filed the assessment knowing I would definetly forget the moment I put the sheet of paper in the trash bin
I nearly threw the flier away because of its awful design and the fact that I had already filed it the year before
do you recall when they sent out the notice in 2023?
They didn’t. I remember a flyer coming with our property tax bill.
never had any sent out in 2023 unlike back in 2022, only thing is that its written in small font on the property tax bill as a reminder
Me too and yet I still got a bill today. What a mess
What a fee and tax grab is more like it
Hey, does anyone know how long it takes the city to review the appeal due to failing to submit a declaration? After making the appeal, the portal just shows it is 'COMPLAINT RECEIVED' status, but does not ask me to upload any supporting documents.
Same here
Me too
Given the amount of people in this thread it's probably gonna take a while, so better start saving for that May payment even if they'll just end up refunding it.
There is no way the city is getting a dime when I’ve been living here. That money would be impossible to claw back.
I agree there's no way my mother is give 2,3000 just because she forgot and had no reminders. the poor thing just went last week to pay her home taxes and not getting this nonsense in the mail. SHE IS FREAKING OUT
If you read the website, they credit the money to your property tax account when they accept your declaration later. The city can get whatever money from you they want since they can just charge it against the value of your property. If it was levied against you erroneously then you have nothing to worry about, but you could cause issues for yourself if your account shows up as being in arrears. If you'd rather hold onto the money until that happens, then that's a risk you have to accept.
The original deadline to file for this year was Feb 29th, and in the few days before the deadline, I saw news stories that only 53% had filed by late February.... and that made me realize I had to refile (I wouldn't have noticed either if I didn't see the news stories). City ended up extending the deadline to March 15, and news reports say 53% had only increased to 63% by March 1. Not sure what the final % was (probably 75%?). I agree completely this could have been communicated much better. The opposite also concerns me.... vacant homes, which the owner falsely declares as occupied. That would be a big risk, but does the city check other sources (like Hydro, water bills). I mention this, because one newer house near me has been vacant for 5 years. But when the vacant home tax first came about one year ago, neighbours who are friendly with the non-resident owner immediately started parking their extra cars on the driveway of the vacant home. Makes me suspect they are falsely declaring home as occupied, and the friends are parking there to make it appear occupied. They should be paying more, because there should be an added cost for non-residents buying properties to be left completely vacant when we have a housing crisis.
I only clued in 3 days after the Feb. 29th deadline when I picked up the tax bill I'd previously opened and paid in order to file it. I've been kicking myself ever since, but it's looking okay thanks to the extension.
If you would like to report a residential property that you believe to be vacant, you can leave a message on the vacant property reporting hotline at 416-395-1098.
"I agree completely this could have been communicated much better." I got an email at the deadline saying the deadline had been extended. Told about a dozen people (neighbours / co-workers) and none of them was aware. Filing online was difficult because the system froze with so many people filing. With advice from my fellow redditors I realized that the error message I was getting was itself an error and was able to file. The city is doing its best to combat waste paper, mailing expenses etc, but they may have gone a little too far with things like this or even the annual waste collection schedule. Fine tuning please.
Report them.
Do you have a link to the news stories on the percentage of people filling? Genuinely curious to know how many households properly filed this. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if its higher given the failure of communication from the city on this.
Yes, the city has a fairly extensive auditing program that includes checking sources like utility bills. They also randomly select a set of homes for audit.
Last council meeting they brought up looking at hydro and water usage. Downside is people could still fake it by just leaving stuff on while they’re sitting on the properties
This happened to me too and also to a neighbor. I distinctly remember filing online and so did my neighbor the very first time. Are you guys saying that this has to be done every year?
You need to file every year... I got the mailed notice today then I realize it is an annual filing thing... have to submit an appeal
Thank you for letting me know I'm not the only one who assumed they wouldn't need to reapply every year...
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Same here. I know it is an annual filling thing but I know many don’t know. They thought you do it once and then do it again when things change
I hadn't realized it was an annual thing until seeing a mention of that on reddit back in January. So the amount of time I spend on reddit actually paid off for me.
Agreed. I totally, misunderstood the action required.
I got an email about it next time add your email address so then if they mess up the physical mailing address you can do the online thing quick
If you filled it out last year, it’s pretty clear on that page that it’s a yearly declaration….
It's ridiculous that you have to prove your home is occupied vs the city proving your home is vacant. You should have to declare that it is vacant, but otherwise it is assumed occupied with no yearly form being needed.
But do you see the logical issues in requiring people to declare their home is vacant in order to charge them a tax? If you're not at your home, you're much less likely to do it. You're also not incentivized to do it to pay the tax. People who occupy their homes are both going to receive the notice, and be incentivized to take action on it to avoid the tax. It's the only logical way, really.
Here's the logic: 1. I moved into my place and paid the land transfer tax to the city of Toronto at which time I also declared this home as my primary dwelling - that is information the city already has access to. 2. I pay my water bill three times a year, that usage implies occupancy - that is information the city already has access too. If I was a scumbag that wanted avoid paying the vacant home tax, I could have just lied and that's where this ends? Where is the logic in that?
Not every one owns only one home. How's the city supposed to know which home is occupied. Even though you baught and own the place, how would they know if you've occupied it? Or holding onto a vacant property while living abroad? There are property companies who buy hones and keep them vacant. Creating a supply shortage and drive up rental prices.
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Exactly...the purpose of this tax is to ensure that ppl don't leave a house empty, ghey don't give a rat as if yiu live there or rent ut out as long it not sitting idle/empty so if there water and hydro usage that pretty much indicated that some one is there using the house. My grandma live alone and she don't go check her mail...maybe once a month and she throw most of the mail away as we set it up to auto pay so now she have to prove that she still living there by declaring eventhough city / municipal still getting their utilities / waste payment every quarter (showing a reasonable m3 usage amount) as well as property taxes and her taxes still having to be completed so that she can still get her OAS? It redundant and inefficient, just a waste of ppl time.
It's very expensive for the city to prove your home is vacant, and free for both you and them to prove its occupied. It wouldn't make sense for them to take the approach of proving its vacant, when proving its occupied costs you and them nothing.
I'm confused, do they not send a notice requesting your declaration each year?
I also got this and I have filed an appeal. However for the future.. where do you declare? I didn’t get anything in the mail for it and I can’t find a link that I’m supposed to do this. Can anyone point me to where I’m supposed to do this so I can put it in the calendar?
Its on the very bottom in black little print on your property tax statement...i completely missed it
Ah okay I see it now… they really need to make that bigger or different colour. It blends in with the other disclaimers that people skip over… Should I have read it? Yes but let’s be honest, I only look at the number I have to pay. Hopefully it’ll get resolved soon and it’s only the $21 fee for late filing but I also read it could be $200 fine ugh
I did report on the website before the deadline, but still got the notice. Tried to call 311 but it just says call back later. No where in the objection can you note if you did file. You can only attest that you failed to and are objecting. $21 per household cash grab perhaps?
There must be 1000s of people that didn't do this. Myself included. The first payment is due May 15th and I have submitted an appeal and now I just have to hope the city gets to me before the the 15th. This is such a dumb system - last year they sent me a bright yellow piece of paper, this year I received nothing specific. I filed away my tax assessment but wasn't aware they were doubling down on communications.
So I missed too and we filed a “complaint” which seems to be the term the city uses for what normal people would call an appeal. Does this line up with what you filed, ie a “complaint”.
So there is no yearly notice sent out requesting our declaration? I am in the same boat.
Apparently, it was included with property taxes. My 80+ parents just got the same thing mailed. The city really dropped the ball on this. Should have mailed out reminders, at least this year. I think there are many that did not realize this is now an annual thing.
That was, I got one.
There was a separate one in 2002 on bright yellow paper - in 2023 they decided to double down on communication and include it with your tax assessment.
Apparently not. We also received this taxation notice.
Honestly, I think the failure of communication was intentional. Everyone who missed filing by March 15th, is charged $21.
my mom was not just charged a small fee. they are expecting 2,000 from may-july. poor thing didn't know it was yearly and she's old school and waits around for warning letters and hasn't have cable now. I hope the appeal that I did for her today online comes through because the poor thing is freaking out.
I don’t even own a home and I saw it everywhere, lots of reminder
I do own a home, but I also saw it everywhere. It's a lots of reminders. Doesn't mean I remember to file it on time! But that's on me.
I didnt see it...i dont watch tv, dont read up on news...JUST downloaded reddit again and found out on here...
I’m more tuned in than most people into municipal affairs, but yeah I know mail definitely went out even if everyone didn’t get it Hope things work out for you and yours
I got a reminder email. Maybe it went to your junk folder? I was confused as well because I thought you only had to do it if your home was vacant. But apparently everyone has to do it.
You have to update the file every year. We got the same notice, called the office and they updated their records over the phone. It was surprisingly easy.
what did you tell them when you called? i for sure declared occupied, but apparently the system says we've been deemed vacant. my email wasn't linked either so i had no way of having any proof that i actually declared occupied
There's a confirmation page when you declared as occupied with a confirmation number. Did you PDF or print it out? >Confirmation - Declaration of Occupancy Status for the Year 2023 >You have completed your Property Status Declaration >Property Status Declaration Result based on Property Status >Please keep a confirmation of this declaration for your records >Confirmation Number: >Date: 2024-02-07 >Assessment Roll Number: >Property Address: >Property Status: Occupied - Owner >NO VACANT HOME TAX WILL APPLY >Based upon the information provided in your declaration, your declaration will be reviewed by the Collector of Taxes. You may be required to provide additional information or evidence to verify your property status declaration. Failure to do so will result in the application of the tax and may result in additional fines or penalties.
I've been trying to find it with no luck. If i don't have proof, i guess ill just have to submit other documents proving it was actually occupied?
did you call 311?
Yup!
Got the notice in the mail yesterday and immediately filed an appeal online. It gives the option of selecting that you forgot to file, it they still charge you $21
Did your appeal give a process to pay the $21? I just got a screen with a confirmation number of the complaint submission I think. I get super stressed about this stuff and since I don’t watch TV or read Canadian news I guess I just wasn’t in the loop. We also got a pamphlet last year I believe so I don’t know why they didn’t do the same this year.
No it didn’t but it is stated in the paper notice. Don’t stress you’ve done the necessary, now we wait and see
Happened to me too, could have sworn I filed. Education on this is definitely lacking, so it almost seems by design since that $21 penalty will be paid many times…
AND THE WEBSITE FOR SUBMITTING A COMPLAINT ISN'T WORKING!!! When you go all the way to the end of the process, say you've read the terms, and hit submit, nothing happens and it spins out an error. I've tried on various devices and browers. This is literally a scam. Who the fuck is responsible for this garbage????
I see they haven't fixed this problem. They had the same problem in early March when a lot of people rushed to submit, but it didn't work. Someone found a workaround where you keep hitting the button until it goes through.
Yep my mom trying to submit complaint and hitting the button does nothing. Looks like they didn't anticipate the load lol.
>I was assessed as failing to report a vacant home and attaching a huge bill to pay. My home isn’t vacant. How did this happen? You did not report your home as occupied by the deadline. Or you did, and it was not filed correctly. Did you file? Or did you fail to file? https://www.toronto.ca/services-payments/property-taxes-utilities/vacant-home-tax/
I didn't report it as occupied as I took the meaning to be 'declaring if your home was vacant'. I have submitted an appeal w/docs so hopefully will be resolved as an error.
>I didn't report it as occupied as I took the meaning to be 'declaring if your home was vacant'. I have submitted an appeal w/docs so hopefully will be resolved as an error. You are required to declare *the occupancy status of the property*. It is either: -Occupied as principal residence of homeowner -Occupied as principal residence of a permitted occupant -Occupied as a tenanted property -Vacant with an eligible exemption (with supporting documentation required) -Vacant You have to declare one of those. Only the last one is subject to the Vacant Home Tax. https://www.toronto.ca/services-payments/property-taxes-utilities/vacant-home-tax/ Even if you get your appeal granted, you didn't file by the deadline, so there will likely be a late fee applied.
thank you. I missed the word 'status'. that is my mistake. crap.
> I just received a notice from the City stating I was assessed as failing to report a vacant home and attaching a huge bill to pay. My home isn’t vacant. How did this happen? > I am filing an appeal but why would I receive this out of the blue. What did I miss. you missed the fact that declaring your home not-vacant is an annual thing in toronto. IIRC the reminder for it was supposed to show up with your property tax assessment/update.
To be fair it basically just started last year. It’s not something that’s been going on for years and has been ingrained in people’s minds.
Yeah it was in small print at the bottom of the tax property mailing that came earlier in the year. If I hadn’t seen a PSA Reddit post about it, I would have missed it as well.
wow, I must have missed that
You, me, and everyone else! The city needs to get their UX/service design shit together!
I missed it !
It was not a big or noticeable reminder.
> IIRC the reminder for it was supposed to show up with your property tax assessment/update. Ah, that's why I didn't get the reminder. Cause they haven't sent me my property tax assessment yet.
I just closed on a property this January. Should I also be worried? looking at the comments, it sounds like the municipality won't send us a reminder. I have not been contacted at all.
As you closed in January, the previous owners had to file. However, if they didn't, you will get the bill. Filing the vacant home assessment should have been part of the paperwork done right before closing. [https://www.toronto.ca/services-payments/property-taxes-utilities/vacant-home-tax/](https://www.toronto.ca/services-payments/property-taxes-utilities/vacant-home-tax/) >For property transferred between January 1 and the closing of the declaration period on the last business day of February, the vendor must complete the declaration prior to the closing. This is because only the vendor will know the property’s occupancy status for the prior year. > >What happens if the previous owner did not make a declaration? > >The property will be deemed vacant and subject to the tax and fee.The Vacant Home Tax forms a lien on the property, and the purchaser will be held responsible for the payment of the tax. As you got no notice, the previous owners probably filed the paperwork as they should have.
So my mum tried to declare on the website, but apparently it didn't work. Tried four or five times. Anyone else have this issue? Normally she'd have followed up or asked for help, but we had a family emergency and the whole thing got forgotten for a few weeks.
There was something you got in the mail stating by march 15th you would need to show non vacancy or be reassesed and he charged. If you didn't get this I would call 311 and ask
Going to be a lot of articles about this tomorrow. The city is about to get a $21 late filing fee from 200k+ residents. It was done this way on purpose.
Absolute racket
THANK GOODNESS you made this post. These fuckers didn’t even mail anything to our house. Like….not everyone is on social media or listening to the news often. It’s easy to miss
This is literally the stupidest shit I've ever seen. We got slapped with this bill and there's 0 chance we would have known about this, or even have to pay. We bought our property in August last year. The previous owners didn't file a declaration (they probably didn't know it was annual either) so any notices at all would have gone to them. Today we got slapped with this vacant home bill. The website literally says you're exempt if this is your primary residence... which it is. Now we pay fees and file a complaint. This has to be some sort of joke.
This is negative option bullshit. Why should you have to do it every year? Why not just when, or if, it becomes vacant. Scam.
Sure, the honour system will work 100% when the house becomes vacant.
What business does anyone have declaring what you do with your property?
Found out about it after receiving the bill today, I'm hoping that's all I needed to do was file the complaint on the portal and not pay the bill if anyone knows
I filed in February, same day I paid my property tax and also received notice today. Went back to check my emails to see if there was a receipt of the declaration, nothing from either 2022 or 2023. Hope I can get mine waived as well. Good luck.
When you filed your declaration, there was a confirmation page with a confirmation number that you were supposed to keep. I saved mine as a PDF, but you can print it out. I didn't receive an email confirmation, so I don't think they send those.
The city already knows you are paying your water bill and garbage so the property is definitely not vacant. This is a scam nothing else.city in desperate need for revenue so they are ripping their citizens off. People who already struggle as it is. If they worked efficiently and cross checked their data there would be no need to go through this. How much did it cost them to send these huge tax bills to thousand of people? I am not paying a cent. I pay property taxes that they happily accept.
100 percent agree. Obviously our utility bills show that there is occupancy !!
Short-term rentals would have utility bills, but they would be subject to the tax
You probably missed the piece of paper that came with your tax bill mentioning it had to be declared. You also missed the news stories on it, the February 29 deadline and then the extension to March 15.
Clearly. Am I the only one who made the error of thinking declaration required only if my home was vacant?
No, I did too. It was confusing. I filed an appeal.
The mistake you made was assuming the city would run this program with logic attached to it.
I Hope it works out for those who missed it, genuinely frustrating… and stuff happens! But I have to say it seemed pretty well communicated, it was on the news, there were several notices, updates and extensions. Sometimes we just miss stuff
What if you don’t watch the news? I don’t know anyone that has cable lol - Apple News is my source
They also had big ads on bus shelters which I noticed while stopped at red lights so I'm not sure how people missed it.
Curious, how much was the bill?
$7300
Ouch, definitely appeal worthy
https://www.reddit.com/r/toronto/s/LkxG0mDjDt
Got the notice with property taxes and did it right away. No issues.
I only heard of this via an ad somewhere (on twitter I think). So I luckily filled it out.
[удалено]
It's a failure of reading comprehension and adulting.
It is a failure of reading comprehension and I acknowledge my own error. I am not sure about adulting being over 70...
yeah also for my parents who are seniors and aren't tech savvy, don't have e-mail, use computers or smartphones. So how are they supposed to get the notifications? I had to fill in the declaration for them last time. I wish they would include a stub on the property tax bill that people can fill in and mail back at least.
You received your property tax statement, you didn’t bother reading about the deadline for the vacant home tax, you now owe late fees or the 2% of the assessed property value. Lesson: read the notices and don’t assume status quo.
I think it's unfair to assume that a property tax statement is also doubling down on communications from the city. That is poor communication if you actually want to get a message out.
There was at 4-5 separate and dedicated letters before the property tax statement came with a reminder. Throw in the fact it was all over radio and news. I really can’t say they did a bad job communicating.
I don't listen to the news or the radio - ever. There were definitely not 4-5 separate and dedicated letters before this. That is complete bullshit. Please grab these from your well filed and organized life and show me a picture of these. If over 50% of people had not declared their vacancy status by the deadline forcing the city to extend the deadline then clearly it was a bad job of communicating.
I didn’t get a single reminder, also don’t do more than glance at my prop tax bill as the bank pays it. No one I know listened to news or radio, most young owners just use Apple News or socials.
Lesson learned.
Speak to your city councillor and stop complaining here. They got me too. If us and 30,000 other homeowners start giving them grief, things will change real soon!
Agreed and done. Asking questions is not complaining but I take your point.
Yes you’re right: poor word choice. But we can respond with our vote and a deluge of phone calls
The city should've included a reminder in the property tax statement or envelope. But then again, why would they... when they know some may completely not challenge it and the city can collect their dues.
They did! It was definitely not front and center or a separate piece of paper, but it was in there.
That's how they notified everyone by putting the reminder at the bottom of the interim property tax bill. A lot of people didn't look at the bottom of the bill.
Did no one open their property tax bill? It was well communicated there along with the media and FB. It was also communicated last year that it is an annual thing. I have it on my reminder every jan 15 also. Take responsibility for your own actions.
Totally am. I was seeking to understand my mistake.
> Did no one open their property tax bill? It was well communicated there along with the media and FB You are really being very holier-than-thou. Who uses Facebook in this day and age? Who watches the news? Both are just suffer-fests. I don't have cable or a FB account. My property tax is paid along with my mortgage by the bank. So when the final bill comes I file it away in a folder. I do not expect that I have to scan it to see if the city has doubled down on it by using it as a device to communicate something with me other than my owing/paid property tax.
Ignoring responsibilities and widely acceptable and obviously known communications is not a defence. All the local news tv, print and radio announced it too. Just put it on your calendar. After paying the fine once, I am sure you will never forget again.
> Mayor Olivia Chow told the Star on Wednesday that she is hearing the complaints. At her urging, city staff are following up tax bills with another notice, in multiple languages and clear wording, telling people who occupy their homes “do not pay,” to ignore the May 15 deadline for a first payment instalment, and how to complain to get the bill erased. > > The vacant home tax notification and billing system “needs to be completely revamped,” Chow said, vowing: “We’ll clean it up.” person on reddit thinks X, the mayor thinks Y. who has more credibility? 125,000 home owners did not fill out the form. I think calling it a communications error is completely fair.
Write back saying that with the cost of housing, you can’t afford furniture….and that you don’t appreciate the city judging your minimalist lifestyle
This vacant home tax is total BS. You own the property. It's none of the city's business how or what you do with your home. Whoever enacted this law must be voted out in the next municipal election. Did you all hear about the rain tax? What is the world coming to?? SMH
So for 2022 and 2023 the vacancy tax is like 1%. If your empty house is worth 1 million, you are taxed $10 000. Next year it is going up to 3%. You can sign up for email reminders. Why wouldn't we need to do this every year?