Land Transfer Tax in Ontario

What Land Transfer Tax Is

Land transfer tax is the provincial tax on buying land in Ontario. The buyer pays it. A real estate lawyer in Toronto remits it when the transfer is registered. It is not the legal bill, and it is not the deed.

Toronto also charges a separate Vacant Home Tax on empty homes. That is 3 percent of the assessment if you miss the occupancy declaration. It is not land transfer tax.

On most residential purchases it is the largest cheque you write at closing, after the down payment. In the City of Toronto you pay a second municipal tax on top. Mississauga, Vaughan, Markham, Brampton, Richmond Hill, and Oakville do not.

Run the numbers on the legal fee calculator before you firm up. The tax is calculated on the value of the consideration, which on a normal resale is the price in the Agreement of Purchase and Sale.

Who Pays, and When

The buyer pays. Sellers do not. It is due when the Transfer/Deed of Land is registered, not when you sign the offer. Your lawyer collects it in the closing funds and remits it through Teraview with the registration.

You cannot roll it into the mortgage. Lenders will not advance it. Budget it as cash on closing, the same way you budget the deposit and the legal fees.

There is no HST on land transfer tax. HST is a different tax, and it usually shows up on a new or substantially renovated home, not on a typical resale. See HST rebates on new housing.

How Ontario Calculates It

Ontario uses a marginal rate. Each band applies only to the slice of the price that falls in that band. You do not pay 2% on the whole house because the price cleared $400,000.

Provincial rates on residential purchases, current for 2026:

• 0.5% on the first $55,000
• 1.0% on the portion from $55,000.01 to $250,000
• 1.5% on the portion from $250,000.01 to $400,000
• 2.0% on the portion from $400,000.01 to $2,000,000
• 2.5% on the portion over $2,000,000, where the land contains one or two single-family residences

On a $1,000,000 purchase the provincial tax is $16,475: $275 + $1,950 + $2,250 + $12,000. That is the province only.

The 2.5% band is for land with one or two single-family residences. A cottage counts. A farm residence on land in the farm property class does not.

Toronto Municipal Land Transfer Tax

If the property is inside the City of Toronto, you also pay Municipal Land Transfer Tax. That is Etobicoke, North York, Scarborough, East York, York, and downtown. It is not Mississauga. It is not Vaughan. The municipal boundary is the test, not a Steeles Avenue rule of thumb.

Up to $3 million, Toronto uses the same brackets as the province. A typical Toronto purchase is roughly double the provincial tax. On that $1,000,000 example, the municipal portion is another $16,475, for $32,950 combined, before any first-time rebate.

That "roughly double" line stops at $3 million. For registrations on or after April 1, 2026, Toronto charges extra municipal rates on homes with one or two single-family residences:

• 4.40% on the portion over $3 million up to $4 million
• 5.45% on the portion over $4 million up to $5 million
• 6.50% on the portion over $5 million up to $10 million
• 7.55% on the portion over $10 million up to $20 million
• 8.60% on the portion over $20 million

Other Toronto land (not one or two single-family residences) stays at 2% on the portion over $400,000 municipally. The province does not match those extra Toronto bands.

Toronto also charges an MLTT administration fee of $102.56 plus HST on the filing. First-time buyers still pay it. It is not the $85 land-registration fee. It is not the tax.

First-Time Homebuyer Rebate

Ontario will refund up to $4,000 of provincial land transfer tax. That wipes out the provincial tax on a home around $368,000. Above that, you get the $4,000 and you pay the rest. Toronto has its own rebate of up to $4,475. A qualifying first-time buyer in the city can take both, up to $8,475 combined.

The tests are strict, and they are not the same as the federal Home Buyers' Plan. You must be at least 18. You must be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident. You must occupy the home as your principal residence within nine months of the transfer. You cannot have owned an eligible home, or an interest in one, anywhere in the world, at any time. Gift and inheritance count. You cannot re-qualify later.

The spouse rule is the one that surprises people. If you have a spouse, and that spouse owned a home while they were your spouse, neither of you gets the rebate. A home they owned before you were spouses does not, by itself, kill your claim. A home they owned during the relationship does. Common-law counts once you meet the Family Law Act definition of spouse.

If a parent goes on title because the bank wants a covenantor, the refund is often only proportionate to the child's interest, and you may have to pay at registration and apply after with trust evidence. Claim it on the electronic registration if you qualify. If you miss it, you have 18 months from registration to apply. No interest is paid on a late refund. The Ontario rules are on the Ministry of Finance first-time refund page.

The spouse rule and the parent-on-title split are the two ways a first-time buyer loses the money. The full rebate rules are in first-time land transfer tax rebates.

What Is Not Land Transfer Tax

Legal fees are a different line. All-inclusive residential purchase fees start at $2,299 plus HST. Sale fees start at $1,999 plus HST. Registration is $85 per document. None of that is land transfer tax. The tax is usually larger than the legal bill. See real estate legal fees.

A land transfer deed is the document that moves title. People search that phrase and land on this page. If you want the paper, read what a property deed looks like in Ontario. A title transfer between family members can still trigger land transfer tax if a mortgage is assumed. A true gift with no mortgage usually does not.

Foreign buyers also pay the Non-Resident Speculation Tax, 25% of the price, anywhere in Ontario. Toronto adds a 10% municipal NRST on certain residential purchases. That is not land transfer tax. It sits on top. See the foreign buyers page.

On a Toronto purchase, land transfer tax is often the largest closing cost after the down payment. The lawyer calculates it from the agreement, claims the rebate if you qualify, and remits it at registration. Get the number from the calculator before you remove conditions.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)