Practices:

  REAL ESTATE


Please send all real estate documents to: realestate@goadandgoad.com

We handle a broad range of property law and real estate transactions. We take a practical, business-oriented approach to our clients’ needs and value the many long-term client relationships we have built over the decades we’ve been in practice. We are grateful for the trust our clients place in us and understand the responsibility that comes with that trust.

Clients

Our clients include businesses, individual property owners, property managers and a range of public and private sector entities.

We have a significant practice in residential real estate. We are often in the enviable position of representing clients for their very first (and often both worrisome and exciting) experience of purchasing their first home. On the other end of the spectrum, we assist clients with purchasing their dream home, cottage or condominium.

Similarly, we represent individuals and corporate entities with the sale of their homes, cottages and condominiums and/or businesses.

Some of the many services we offer include:

  • Boundary Disputes
  • Building contracts with Tarion compliance
  • Commercial Leasing
  • Commercial Real Estate- Purchase, Sale and Mortgage
  • Condominium Purchase/Sale
  • Condominium Registrations
  • Construction Issues / Liens
  • Cottage / Recreational Properties
  • Encroachment issues
  • Estate transfers
  • Family Transfers (between certain classes of family member)
  • Landlord and Tenant Issues
  • Non-resident sales and purchases
  • Ownership / Title Issues
  • Power of Sale, Foreclosure and other mortgage remedies
  • Private Mortgages
  • Refinancing
  • Residential Real Estate: Purchase, Sale and Mortgage
  • Road access and boundary issues
  • Survivorship Applications (used when one or more persons registered on title have deceased)
  • Title issues on property
  • Zoning Inquiries

Identification Requirements

You will be required to produce 2 pieces of valid Identification (ID): The first being a valid piece of photo ID, when you attend at our office to sign up your real estate documents. The photo ID may be a valid driver’s license, valid passport or a landed immigrant card. The second ID can be a social insurance card, credit card or similar. Your ID must be produced and will be photocopied by our staff when you attend our office for your appointment, in order for your transaction to be completed. If you have any questions with regard to appropriate ID, please contact our office immediately to clarify.

Land Transfer Tax

When you buy land or an interest in land in Ontario, you pay Ontario's land transfer tax. Land includes any buildings, buildings to be constructed, and fixtures (such as light fixtures, built-in appliances and cabinetry).

Feel free to use our Land Transfer Tax Calculator to provide you with an estimate of the tax payable by you for your next purchase.

The following information originates from the Ontario Ministry of Finance website and is provided for informational purposes: http://www.fin.gov.on.ca/en/tax/ltt/

Who pays land transfer tax?

When you acquire a property or land, you pay land transfer tax to the province when the transaction closes.

Land transfer tax is normally based on the amount paid for the land, in addition to the amount remaining on any mortgage or debt assumed as part of the arrangement to buy the land.

In some cases, land transfer tax is based on the fair market value of the land, for example, where:

  • the transfer of a lease with a remaining term that can exceed 50 years
  • the transfer of land is from a corporation to one of its shareholders, or
  • the transfer of land is to a corporation, if shares of the corporation are issued.

First-time homebuyers

If you are a first-time homebuyer, you may be eligible for a refund of all or part of the land transfer tax.

Read: Land transfer tax refund for first-time homebuyers

Other land taxes

Local municipalities charge a tax on the residential or business property you own. If you have questions about municipal property tax, contact your local municipality. If your property is located in an unorganized territory (an area without municipal organization) of Ontario, property tax is collected through the provincial land tax program administered by the Provincial Land Tax Office in Thunder Bay.

More about provincial land tax

Harmonized sales tax

The harmonized sales tax (HST) applies to newly constructed homes or substantially renovated homes, but does not apply to resale homes. Buyers of new homes may receive a rebate of up to $24,000 of the provincial portion (8%) of the HST. If you have any questions about the HST rebate please contact the Canada Revenue Agency at 1 800 959-1953.

Read: GST/HST New Housing Rebate

Land transfer tax rates

The tax rates calculated on the value of the consideration are:

  • 0.5% up to and including $55,000
  • 1% above $55,000 up to and including $250,000
  • 1.5% above $250,000
  • 2% above $400,000 where the land contains one or two single family residences.

The land transfer tax rate is the same for residents and non-residents of Canada.

Calculating the tax amount

Use the table below to calculate land transfer tax.

  • Residential property: land that contains one or two single family residences
  • VC: Value of the consideration for the conveyance or disposition
  • LTT: Land transfer tax payable
For the Value of the Consideration Formula
up to and including $55,000 LTT = VC × 0.005
above $55,000 and up to $250,000 LTT = (VC × 0.01) - $275
above $250,000, for property other than residential LTT = (VC × 0.015) - $1,525
above $250,000 up to $400,000, for residential property LTT = (VC × 0.015) - $1,525
for residential property above $400,000 LTT = (VC × 0.02) - $3,525

Feel free to use the Goad and Goad LTT Calculator to determine your LTT payable:

Purchase Price $

   
     

Ontario Land Transfer Tax $

   

Vacant lot with a construction contract

Where a construction contract is entered into as part of the arrangement relating to the purchase of a vacant lot or lots, the value of the consideration is calculated on the:

  • total cost of the lot, plus
  • cost of construction contract

Value of consideration in foreign currency

All monies must be expressed in Canadian dollars. The land transfer tax statements must set out the value of the consideration in Canadian dollars. The date of currency conversion should be the:

  • date that the agreement of purchase and sale is accepted and becomes a binding contract, or
  • date of registration if there is no written agreement.

Read on: Calculating land transfer tax

Paying the tax

Ontario's land transfer tax is payable when the transfer is registered.

If the transfer is not registered within 30 days of closing, you must submit a Return on the Acquisition of a Beneficial Interest in Land form to the Ministry of Finance, along with the payment of tax within 30 days after the closing date.

Download: Return on the Acquisition of a Beneficial Interest in Land [PDF - 1.81 MB]

Some person(s) do not pay land transfer tax on certain transfers of land. The exemptions include:

  • certain transfers between spouses
  • certain transfers from an individual to his or her family business corporation
  • certain transfers of farmed land between family members
  • certain transfers of a life lease from a non-profit organization or a charity.

A deferral of land transfer tax may be available when land is transferred between affiliated corporations, and notice of the transfer is not registered on title.

General anti-avoidance rule (GAAR)

Bill 14 Building Opportunity and Securing Our Future Act amended the Land Transfer Tax Act to set out a general anti-avoidance rule. This rule applies to transactions that are completed after May 1, 2014. It also applies to transactions that occurred on or before May 1, 2014 if they are part of a series of transactions that is completed after May 1, 2014.

Overpayment and refunds

If you overpaid land transfer tax, you can ask the Ministry of Finance for a refund. Here’s how:

  1. Write a letter explaining the reason for your refund request and include:
    • a copy of the registered conveyance
    • evidence of the amount of tax paid on registration
    • a copy of the agreement of purchase and sale (including all schedules and amendments)
    • a copy of the statement of adjustments

  2. Mail your letter to:
    Ministry of Finance
    33 King Street West, PO Box 625
    Oshawa, Ontario
    L1H 8H9

Time limits

There is no time restriction where a refund is requested for land transfer tax paid on registration of a notice or caution where the transfer contemplated in the agreement referred to in the notice or caution did not take place.

First time homebuyers refunds requests must be made within 18 months after the date of the transfer.

All other refund requests must be made within 4 years after the date of payment of the tax.

Read: Refunds of land transfer tax

Recommended for you

Land transfer tax refund for first-time homebuyers

FAQ:

My partner and I are buying a home together. I have owned a home, but he has not. Does he qualify for the First-time Homebuyers Refund?

The bank requires that my mom/dad be on title to my mortgaged property. Will I pay land transfer tax when my parent(s) later conveys legal title to me?

What is the value of the consideration where a parent transfers a half interest in property to the child, and there is a mortgage on the property?

Forms:

Affidavit, re. Conveyance to Family Business Corporation - LT101

Authorizing or Cancelling a Representative

Land Transfer Tax Affidavit

Ontario Land Transfer Tax Refund Affidavit for First-Time Purchasers of Eligible Homes

Return on the Acquisition of a Beneficial Interest in Land

Publications:

Conveyances Involving Trusts

Calculating Land Transfer Tax

Effect of the Harmonized Sales Tax on the Value of the Consideration

Land Transfer Tax and Fractional Ownership Resorts

Land Transfer Tax Refunds for First-Time Homebuyers

Transactions for Nominal Consideration