Goodbye to Toronto Land Transfer Tax?

With the slow down in the economy and the constant implementation of taxes by the government, the real estate industry is starting to suffer. With the City of Toronto scheduled to vote on the City's proposed Budget on March 31, 2009, 65% of Torontonians believe that the new Toronto Land Transfer Tax should be reversed.[i]

With the recent effectuating of Dalton McGuity's new Harmonized Sales Tax, the entire cost of purchasing real estate in Toronto is putting a bad taste in the mouths of Torontonians. This in return has had a negative impact on Toronto's real estate market as housing sales have dropped by 16% and values by 1.5% in 2008 alone.[ii] This statistic is directly related to the new Toronto Land Transfer Tax and does not take into consideration the impact that the new HST tax will have.

Torontonians are finally beginning to speak their concerns and express that this new Land Transfer Tax has definitely had a negative impact on our economy. It has been suggested that the most effective action for the City to help with our economic situation is to essentially roll back the Toronto Land Transfer Tax. Not only would this reversal impact people's decisions in a positive way while deciding whether to purchase a home or not, but it will also positively effect the real estate industry. With over 28,000 sales representatives in the City of Toronto, Realtors will also see the positive results of the elimination of this tax with more people willing to purchase real estate.

Another statistic conducted by the Canadian Real Estate Association demonstrated that one out of every 100 jobs is related to the spending associated with re-sale housing sales.[iii] This translates into approximately 14,000 jobs in the City of Toronto that depend on re-sale housing transactions. [iv] With the considerable amount of people whose livelihood is directly impacted negatively by the taxes related to real estate purchases implemented by both Dalton McGuinty and David Miller, it is with extreme optimism that Toronto City council will take into consideration the positive impact that the elimination of Toronto's Land Transfer tax would have on Toronto's economy as a whole.

[i] TREB – Torontonians want Toronto Land Transfer Tax Repealed:Poll, Toronto, March 30th, 2009.

[ii] Ibid.
[iii] Ibid.
[iv] Ibid.