New condos pickering . Can the vacancy tax rate scare speculators? Last night, the Toronto City Council decided to introduce a housing vacancy tax in 2022 by a vote of 24 to 1.
The vacancy tax encourages owners to sell or rent out their properties, which will increase the supply of housing, and those who leave their homes vacant will be forced to pay taxes, and the proceeds can be used to build new housing supplies, the city government said in a press release.
Toronto Mayor Trang Deli mentioned in an interview with the media last month that it is time for many cities to levy a housing vacancy tax. Toronto will follow Vancouver’s practice of levying a vacancy tax.
‘it ‘s no problem if you want to live in your own house or rent it to someone else,’he says. But we cannot afford to let speculators buy apartments and houses and leave them empty when there is a shortage of housing.
“the vacancy tax in Vancouver has been very successful and we are going to implement it in Toronto.”
City staff will study how to implement taxes and report to the city council in 2021, they will consider things such as how to set the proportion of vacancy tax, how to value houses, and how to set the standard for property to be vacant.
The city of Vancouver took the lead in levying a vacancy tax of 1% in 2018.
Every year, all homeowners are required to fill in a form declaring whether their houses are occupied.
Vancouver’s vacancy tax rose to 1.25% in 2019 and $8750 in 2020, based on a housing valuation of $500000.
Recently, Vancouver City Council has approved another increase in vacancy tax to 3% from 2021.