In most of Ontario, people buying houses have to pay a land transfer tax.
In Toronto, they have to pay two – one to their province and another to the city.
Other municipalities have long wondered why they’re not able to levy the same tax on home purchases.
The provincial government appears to be at least considering the notion, with two cabinet ministers recently saying that no decisions have been made.
Lynn Bebenek, the president of the Kitchener-Waterloo Association of Realtors, says only one decision should be made: not to change the system.
“Most Ontario families are finding it very difficult to find affordable housing. Just adding another tax will really hurt them,” she said in an interview.
Numbers provided by the realtors’ association claim a second land transfer tax would add $7,500 to the sale price of the average detached home in the area.
Bebenek says it’s unfair of the government to target homebuyers.
“It forces a small segment of taxpayers to pay for city services that everybody will enjoy,” she said.
Regional Chair Ken Seiling says there are a number of questions remaining around the issue, notably including how the tax would be divided up in a two-tier municipal government structure like Waterloo Region’s.
“I think it’s really too early in the game to start to speculate,” he said.
No timetable for implementing the tax has been put forward.
If it happens, Bebenek says, people might choose to buy homes in municipalities that don’t adopt the tax, or not move at all.
