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Toronto residential property owners have until end of today to submit Vacant Home Tax online declaration

Sathia Kumar

28th February is the final day for homeowners to declare the 2022 occupancy status of their residential property in Toronto on the City of Toronto’s Vacant Home Tax (VHT) portal.

Declarations of property occupancy status can be made quickly and easily on the secure portal. Ninety-five per cent of Toronto homeowners have submitted their VHT declaration.

Homeowners only require their property assessment roll number and customer number to declare the occupancy status of their residential property. The numbers can be found on the most recent property tax bill, or the declaration notices mailed out by the City late last year. Homeowners who do not have access to a computer can authorize someone to act on their behalf to make the online submission.

Although the vast majority of Toronto homeowners will not pay this tax, everyone who owns a residential property is required to declare its occupancy status for the 2022 taxation year. If residents own their own home, if they live in their home but go to a vacation home during parts of the year or work abroad, or even if residents rent out their property, they will not be subject to the tax.

Once the declaration portal closes at the end of day today, the City will issue a VHT Notice of Assessment to property owners who declared their property vacant. Notices will also be sent to owners who did not submit a declaration of occupancy status and whose property has been deemed vacant. These notices will be mailed at the end of March and will show the VHT amount owed – which is calculated at a rate of one per cent of the Current Value Assessment of the property.

Residential property owners who receive a VHT Notice of Assessment and disagree with it will have an opportunity to file a notice of complaint through an online portal that will open in early April.

Full details about the VHT, the available exemptions and how to submit a declaration of property occupancy status are available on the City’s VHT webpage.

Toronto City Council approved extending the original deadline of February 2 to give residential property owners more time to make their VHT declaration, recognizing that this is the first year that owners are required to declare their property’s occupancy status under the VHT bylaw.

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