rfmcdonald | [URBAN NOTE] "Realtors warn against raising Toronto’s land transfer tax" (Reply)

Tess Kalinowski's Toronto Star article describes a situation I do not have that much sympathy for. Toronto needs money to do good things. If this involves doing something that might slow down the real estat emarket, well, so much the better.

First-time homebuyers could be hit with hundreds of dollars in additional closing costs if Toronto “harmonizes” its land transfer tax with the province’s, the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) is warning.

The difference could add $750 to the average home transaction and add an upfront expense that would hit first-time buyers particularly hard.

A city manager’s report that suggests Toronto could “harmonize” the municipal and provincial land transfer taxes is actually an increase, since the provincial tax is higher, said Von Palmer, TREB’s chief communications and government affairs officer.

“They use the word harmonization like it’s a break-even proposition. It is not. It’s an additional $100 million (for the city),” he said.

Toronto is already making $500 million a year more on the tax than the original $350 million estimate when it was introduced about eight years ago, Palmer said.