Tax and Utilities Answers

2024 Occupancy Status

The portal to declare the 2024 occupancy status of your property will open on November 1.

To receive email reminders go to the bottom of the Vacant Home Tax webpage and subscribe to e-updates.

Your property is occupied, but you missed submitting your 2023 occupancy status

If you did not submit a declaration of occupancy status or a Notice of Complaint for the 2023 taxation year, your residential unit will be recognized as having the same occupancy status as it had for the 2022 taxation year.

• Owners who previously declared their property as occupied do not have to take further action to submit a Notice of Complaint for 2023.
• Owners who have not previously provided a declaration of occupancy status for their property (for example, new owners) and who wish to dispute the Vacant Home Tax assessment they received should file a complaint.
• The City has waived the late fee for not providing a declaration of 2023 occupancy status by the March 15, 2024 deadline.

Dispute your Notice of Assessment

To dispute a Notice of Assessment, please file a Notice of Complaint. Your phone number and email (optional) is requested. You may wish to keep a copy of your submitted complaint. Take a screenshot or print screen of your submission.

Submit Complaint 

By mail
If mailing your complaint, property information such as roll number and address along with your signature is required. Also, please include the reason you are filing a complaint. Mail to: City of Toronto, Revenue Services
Vacant Home Tax Complaints/Appeals, 5100 Yonge St., Toronto, ON M2N 5V7.

Deadline

You may file a Notice of Complaint for either the 2022 and 2023 taxation years by December 31, 2024.

Failure to Declare – Fee

Effective January 1, 2024, a fee was applied for failing to submit a declaration of occupancy status by the declaration deadline. This fee is being waived for all applicable properties for the 2023 taxation year. The City will credit the property tax account of owners who have already paid the fee.

Making Payment

It is the responsibility of the property owner to make payment on the tax account by the deadline. If a Notice of Complaint has been submitted and is pending review it is advised that payment and or a payment arrangement be made.

Refunds

If your Notice of Complaint is successful and results in a credit balance, a refund will automatically be issued. If you would like to have the credit amount transferred to another receivable charged on your property tax account, call 311 – Tax and Utility Inquiry Line to request a credit balance transfer. Note: If a refund is already in process, a transfer of a credit request can not be accepted.

Account Status

Note: The Property Tax Lookup is not updated in real time, which will result in a delay in viewing your information.

• Sign-in to the Property Tax Lookup, under the “Vacant Home Tax” tab, view your property occupancy status for prior and current years.
• VHT charges will appear under the Summary of Billed Amounts, 2023 and Other Charges.

Your assessment roll number and customer number is required which can be found on a current property tax bill, statement or Vacant Home Tax Notice of Assessment.

Learn more about the Vacant Home Tax.

The October 31, 2024 deadline to apply for the relief programs has passed. The City may however accept ‘first-time’ relief applications submitted on or before December 31, 2024. You can  apply online or submit a paper-based  application.

You must reapply annually if you have applied for and received a cancellation, deferral, water and/or solid waste rebate for the previous year. With each annual application the supporting documentation must also be provided.

Check on the status on your relief programs application, sign into the Property Tax Lookup, go to “Summary of Rebates” tab to view the activity on your submitted application.

Water and Solid Waste Relief Programs

Once your application is approved, the water rebate will be posted as a lump sum credit on your first utility bill in the following year – check under “Account Adjustments” on the first utility bill issued in 2024. Solid waste rebates will be applied and prorated on each utility bill issued next year.

Change of Ownership

The Vacant Home Tax has implications for property transactions, both for purchasers and vendors.

• Ensure that the declaration of status occupancy has been filed by the deadline. This is the responsibility of the purchaser and/or vendor.
• Failure to pay the Vacant Home Tax will result in a lien being placed on the property. As a result, any unpaid taxes will become the responsibility of the purchaser.
• Vendors should provide a copy of the completed and filed property status declaration to the purchaser.
  • Filing property occupancy status online – once a declaration has been submitted, a confirmation page will be generated which can be saved or printed.

Closing the sale of a property

• If a closing occurs between January 1 and the closing of the declaration period on February 2, the vendor must complete the declaration prior to the closing, as only the vendor will know the property’s occupancy status for the prior year.
• If a closing occurs after the declaration period – February 3 to December 31 – the purchaser must submit a declaration in the following year. The purchaser qualifies for the “transfer of legal ownership” exemption.
• Vendors should provide a statutory declaration at closing confirming the filed property status declaration is true and correct.

Learn more about the Vacant Home Tax.

There are many ways to make your property tax payments and utility bill payments. For the most convenient option, enrol in pre-authorized property tax payments and pre-authorized utility payments.

To avoid late penalties and interest, please pay well before the due date, processing times for your payment can vary.

Locate Your Account Information

When making payments, locate on your most recently issued statement or bill:

Property Tax	Utility Bill
Use Assessment Roll Number (21 digits)	Use Account Number and Client Number (20 digits)

For cheque payments, please remember to write your property tax roll number (21 digits) and/or your utility bill account number (20 digits) on the cheque.

Inquiry and Payment Counters and Drop Box Services

Property Tax, Utility and Parking Violation Inquiry & Payment Counters are open. Payment counters at Metro Hall remain closed.

Enrol in eBilling and start receiving your property tax and utility bills digitally. Learn more.

Property Tax

Your customer number is located on the upper portion of your property tax bill, directly below the legal description.

Utility Bill

Your client number is located on the upper portion of your utility bill, directly below the account number.

Try these the following tips to help troubleshoot any difficulty you may have signing into the Property Tax and/or Utility Account Lookup:

• If the required information you have entered is confirmed with green checkmarks, but you are still not able to sign in, double-check to ensure you have entered your information correctly
  • While green checkmarks confirm that what you entered is approved according to the correct format, there may still be an error in the information you have entered – for example, while you may have entered the correct number of digits for the assessment roll number, you may have still entered an incorrect assessment roll number that does not match your property tax account
• If you receive an error message when signing in, double-check to ensure you have entered your information correctly
• If the mailing address to the property tax account is outside of Canada, you must enter the property location’s postal code

Note: your Customer Number cannot be used to make payments – use your Assessment Roll Number and/or Utility Account Number for payment purposes

Contact a Customer Service Representative to help troubleshoot any problems you may be experiencing with the Property Tax and Utility Account Lookup tools.

If you would like to use the Property Tax and Utility Account Lookup tools your customer/client number is required.

Change your address through the Property Tax Lookup. Mailing address change requests made online are processed within approximately 48 hours.

Alternatively, refer to Mailing Address Change for other ways to submit your request.

If you have recently sold a property or moved and require the City to close your utility bill account be sure to contact us to request a final meter read.

• Visit an Inquiry & Payment Counter.
• Call 311 – Tax & Utility Inquiry Line
• Fax the request to 416-696-3605
• Mail a letter to General Correspondence.

Learn more about Buying, Selling or Moving.

Log on to view your water use anytime, including total and average water use by day, week, month or year in an easy-to-read graph or chart format.

MyWaterToronto

Toronto’s waste collection program is an all-or-nothing service. If your property opts out of City garbage collection, it will not be eligible for City collection of any other materials including Blue Bin recycling, Green Bin organics, Household Hazardous Waste, electronics and oversized items (e.g. appliances, furniture), all of which are collected for free from buildings receiving City collection. Learn more about opting in or out of City collection services.

Estimated water charges on utility bills are issued to properties. To avoid loss of discount and late payment fees, property owners should make payment by the due date. Once an actual meter read is obtained, any billing discrepancies will be adjusted on future bills. Learn more.

In Toronto, it is mandatory for all property owners to have a water meter installed on any pipe that delivers water into the building. Refer to Water Meters.

Requests for refund or transfer of a credit balance due to an overpayment will require proof of payment. Fees may apply.

Refer to Request a Refund or Transfer for more information.