Small Business Property Tax Subclass

Enter in your address to find out if your property is located within the small business subclass designated area.

The Request for Reconsideration deadline (April 3) has passed, no late submissions can be accepted.

In November of 2021, Toronto City Council adopted the report Implementing a Small Business Property Tax Subclass, which provides a reduction in the tax rate for eligible small business properties. The Province of Ontario will provide a matching reduction in the provincial education portion of property taxes for eligible properties.

Business property owners whose property has been included in the small business property tax subclass do not need to take any further action – the small business subclass classification and reduction in tax rates will be reflected in your final property tax bill.

Tenants of eligible small business properties should speak to their landlord about receiving this reduction.

Learn more about available funding and programs to help Toronto businesses thrive.

Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible for inclusion in the Small Business subclass, a property must meet either of the criteria set out below, depending on the location of the property.

Property location	Criteria to qualify for the subclass
Anywhere in the city	Property must be classified within the Commercial or New Commercial Property Tax Class (CT or XT classification), with certain property types excluded – refer to note 1 below. Current Value Assessment (for 2023 taxation year) must be less than or equal to $1 million.
Properties located within Downtown and Central Waterfront, Growth Centres, and/or Avenues (refer to note 2 below)	Property must be classified within the Commercial or New Commercial Property Tax Class (CT or XT classification), with certain property types excluded – refer to note 1 below. Current Value Assessment (for 2023 taxation year) must be less than or equal to $7 million. Lot size must be 7,500 square feet or less or Gross Floor Area (GFA) of 2,500 square feet or less (applies only to commercial condominiums).

Property location

Criteria to qualify for the subclass

Anywhere in the city

Property must be classified within the Commercial or New Commercial Property Tax Class (CT or XT classification), with certain property types excluded – refer to note 1 below.
Current Value Assessment (for 2023 taxation year) must be less than or equal to $1 million.

Properties located within Downtown and Central Waterfront, Growth Centres, and/or Avenues (refer to note 2 below)

Property must be classified within the Commercial or New Commercial Property Tax Class (CT or XT classification), with certain property types excluded – refer to note 1 below.
Current Value Assessment (for 2023 taxation year) must be less than or equal to $7 million.
Lot size must be 7,500 square feet or less
or
Gross Floor Area (GFA) of 2,500 square feet or less (applies only to commercial condominiums).

Note 1: The following property types are not eligible to be included in the Small Business subclass: Properties classified within the office building, shopping centre, parking lot and vacant land classes, land already classified within the Creative Co-location Facility subclass or Vacant Land subclass, and land for which a demolition permit has been issued.

Note 2: To be eligible, properties must be located within the geographic areas identified as Downtown and Central Waterfront, Avenues or Centres on the map titled: Designated Areas for the City of Toronto Small Business Subclass.

Right to Audit

At any time after the Program Administrator determines that a property should be included in the small business subclass, the Program Administrator may conduct an audit to verify that the property continues to meet the eligibility criteria. Properties that experience changes during the year may become ineligible. This may occur due to changes in assessment value, usage, tax classification or other changes affecting eligibility.

List of Eligible Properties

On January 3, 2023, a list of eligible properties included in the Small Business subclass was made available through the City’s Open Data portal or the eligible property listing.

Business property owners do not need to apply for the small business subclass tax relief. However, properties that may meet the eligibility requirements for the small business subclass, and are not included on the list of eligible properties, may submit a written Request for Reconsideration.

Request for Reconsideration and Appeal Process

Right to Dispute

Property owners who believe they have an eligible property that has not been included in the Small Business subclass have the right to file a Request for Reconsideration and/or an Appeal. Tenants cannot dispute.

Request for Reconsideration (RfR)

On January 3, 2023 a list of eligible small business subclass properties will be made available through the City’s Open Data portal. Property owners have 90 days to submit a request for reconsideration.

Note: The deadline (April 3, 2023) to submit a Request for Reconsideration for the 2023 taxation year has now passed, no late submissions can be accepted.

Required Information

Property and ownership information including assessment roll number, street number and street address and owners name(s).
Contact information (name, business email, phone number), if agent is acting on your behalf – provide authorization.
The reason for the dispute and all supporting documentation.

Submit request by:

Fax: 416-696-3424 Tips on faxing.

In-person: Inquiry & Payment Counters

The Program Administrator will determine requests for reconsideration regarding inclusion and provide a letter of determination, in accordance with Article 12 of Chapter 767, Taxation, Property Tax, of the City of Toronto Municipal Code and Ontario Regulation 282/98.

Appeal Process

Once a determination is made through the RfR process, if the property owner is not in agreement with the decision, an appeal form may be submitted to the Appellate Authority, within 90 days of the issuance of the determination. The Controller has been appointed by City Council to hear appeals related to the Small Business tax subclass. In addition, the Appellate Authority may extend the deadline for filing a RfR if there are extenuating circumstances. Hearings of the Appellate Authority are in writing.

When you fax this form to the Appellate Authority you are required at the same time to fax it to the Program Administrator at 416-696-3427 and 416-696-3424. To learn more about the appeal process, refer to Appellate Authority’s Rules or Procedures.

For inquiries about for filling an appeal form please call the Appellate Authority at 416-885-0462.

Tax Rates

Tax Rate Reduction

For the 2023 tax year, the tax rate reduction for eligible properties within the small business subclass is 15 per cent of the commercial rate.

Regulations

Regulations were enacted on May 7, 2021, and January 18, 2022

Reg. 331/21 (amending O. Reg. 282/98 under the Assessment Act) establishes the optional small business property subclass.
Reg. 333/21 (amending O. Reg. 121/07 under the City of Toronto Act, 2006) establishes sets the maximum municipal reduction factor at 35 per cent.
Reg. 11/22 (amending O. Reg. 400/98 under the Education Act) establishes the education tax rates for 2022 and prescribes a 15 per cent education tax rate reduction for properties in the Small Business subclass for Toronto.