Land Transfer Tax
Rebate
Do I get one?
In the 2007 Ontario
Economic Outlook and Fiscal Review, the government proposed to expand the Land
Transfer Tax Refund Program to include first-time homebuyers of resale homes
for agreements of purchase and sale entered into after December 13, 2007. This measure was
included in Bill 44, Budget Measures and Interim Appropriation Act, 2008, and,
having received Royal Assent on May
14, 2008, is now law.
As a result of this
change, first-time homebuyers of resale homes may now be able to receive a
refund from the provincial government of up to $2,000 of the land transfer tax
paid.
Land Transfer Tax
applies to all conveyances of land in Ontario. First time purchasers of newly constructed
homes may be eligible for a refund of all or part of the tax payable.
The refund for first
time purchasers of newly constructed homes may offset the land transfer tax
ordinarily payable at the time of registration. The maximum amount refundable
is dependent upon the date of the agreement of purchase and sale:
For agreements entered
into after March 31, 1999,
the refund will not exceed $2,000.
For agreements entered
into on or before March 31,
1999, the refund will not exceed $1,725.
Requirements to
qualify for a refund
- The purchaser must be at least 18 years of
age.
- Applications for a refund must be made
within 18 months after the date of conveyance or disposition.
- The purchaser must occupy the home as his
or her principal residence within 9 months of the date of the conveyance
or disposition.
- The purchaser cannot have previously owned
a home or had any ownership interest in a home, anywhere in the world.
- A spouse of the purchaser cannot have
owned a home or had any ownership interest in a home, anywhere in the
world while he or she was the purchaser's spouse.
by Ryan Carson