Provincial
Government Looking to Extend Power to All Municipalities to Charge Unfair,
Unsustainable Municipal Land Transfer Tax Despite Public Opposition and Election
Promise
TORONTO,
ON--(Marketwired - October 27, 2015) - The Ontario Ministry of Municipal
Affairs and Housing has indicated that they are going to make buying a home even
harder by giving every municipality province-wide the power to charge a
Municipal Land Transfer Tax (MLTT), a change that will double the land transfer
taxes consumers have to pay on their next home. The Ontario Real Estate
Association (OREA) encourages all Ontarians to visitwww.donttaxmydream.ca to learn more about the negative impact of
the MLTT and stop this tax from spreading province-wide.
"Ontario home buyers are already charged a
provincial land transfer tax, so by adding a municipal tax, they're essentially
doubling the tax burden on Ontario families," said Patricia Verge, president of
OREA. "If the Ontario Liberals follow through with this plan, home buyers will
be forced to pay $10,000 in total land transfer taxes on the average priced home
in Ontario, starting as early as next year."
Broken election commitment doubles tax on
home buyers
The provincial government is currently undertaking a
public consultation on changes to theMunicipal Act. Despite the fact
that the period for public comment is still open until October 31, 2015, the
Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing has indicated that they will move
ahead with granting municipalities across the province the ability to impose a
municipal land transfer tax, disregarding views expressed by Ontarians during
this important public process.
Verge said that, "The Ontario Liberals wrote to us
in May 2014, during the election, stating that 'they had no plans to extend
these powers to municipalities'. On behalf of home buyers, we want them to
remain good on this election promise and that means Ontarians need to send a
strong message that the government must rethink its plan to double the land
transfer tax burden on home buyers."
In 2008, the City of Toronto put an MLTT in place
after the Ontario government extended the powers to do so two years prior. The
result has been significant negative impacts on jobs and the economy. Over five
years, it is estimated that 38,227 housing transactions did not occur in Toronto
because of the MLTT. With every home transaction generating $55,000 in consumer
spending on things like renovations, furniture, appliances, and fees to
professionals, the MLTT has cost the City of Toronto $2.3 billion in lost
economic activity and 15,000 jobs. This type of effect would be multiplied
across Ontario if the government moves ahead with its plans.
New data from Ipsos Reid show Ontarians do
not support new tax
A new Ipsos Reid poll shows that the overwhelming
majority of Ontarians (89 per cent) outside of Toronto oppose a new MLTT charged
on home purchases in their area. Respondents agreed that if a new land transfer
tax were put in place, it would limit their ability to afford a home (77 per
cent) and they would likely have to delay a purchase (75 per cent). Ontarians
agreed (77 per cent) that the government should do all it can to help families
own their own home.
About OREA
The Ontario Real Estate Association represents
62,000 brokers and salespeople who are members of the 40 real estate boards
throughout the province. OREA serves its REALTOR® members through a wide variety
of professional publications, educational programs, advocacy, and other
services. www.OREA.com.
Methodology
These are some of the findings of an Ipsos Reid poll
conducted between August 28 to September 8, 2015, on behalf of the Ontario Real
Estate Association. For this survey, a sample of 1,501 Ontarians from Ipsos'
Canadian online panel was interviewed online. Weighting was then employed to
balance demographics to ensure that the sample's composition reflects that of
the adult population according to Census data and to provide results intended to
approximate the sample universe. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured
using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll is accurate to within
+/-2.9 percentage points of what the results would be had all adults in Ontario
been surveyed.
Source: Ontario Real Estate Association (OREA)
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