Mortgage · Ontario
Land transfer tax.
Ontario LTT with Toronto's municipal land transfer tax and the first-time buyer rebate applied automatically.
An Ontario land transfer tax calculator. Enter the purchase price, choose whether the property is inside the City of Toronto, and state whether you are a first-time buyer. It returns the provincial LTT, the Toronto municipal LTT where it applies, any first-time-buyer rebate, and the net amount due on closing.
Land transfer tax is charged on a marginal bracket basis, like income tax: each band of the price is taxed at its own rate rather than the whole price being taxed at one rate.
Inputs
Land transfer tax owed
Fill the form and press Calculate.
Ontario LTT brackets
- Up to $55,000: 0.5%
- $55,000 – $250,000: 1.0%
- $250,000 – $400,000: 1.5%
- $400,000 – $2,000,000: 2.0%
- Over $2,000,000: 2.5%
Toronto adds a separate municipal LTT with the same brackets. First-time buyers may receive up to $4,000 Ontario and $4,475 Toronto.
Buying outside Ontario?
This page is Ontario only, because the tax is not a national one. Each province writes its own statute, sets its own bands, and uses its own definition of the amount being taxed, so a single “Canadian land transfer tax” figure does not exist. The two provinces that differ most from Ontario have their own tools:
- British Columbia property transfer tax: different bands, a further 2% on residential value above $3 million, an exemption for newly built homes worth far more than Ontario’s first-time buyer rebate, a 20% additional tax on foreign buyers in five regional districts, and it is charged on fair market value rather than on the purchase price.
- Quebec transfer duties: the taxe de bienvenue. Thresholds indexed annually, a basis of imposition that can exceed what you paid because it follows the municipal assessment roll, Montreal permitted by statute to charge more than any other municipality, and a bill that arrives from the city weeks after closing rather than being collected by your notary on the day.
Alberta, Saskatchewan and the territories charge no land transfer tax at all, only much smaller registration and mortgage-registration fees, which is the largest single closing-cost difference between those markets and Ontario.
TNAADO Inc. · Toronto
Toronto buyers pay this tax twice
Ontario charges land transfer tax on the value of the consideration for a property, in progressive bands, payable in cash on closing. A purchase inside the City of Toronto also attracts the municipal land transfer tax on its own comparable band structure, so the total on a Toronto property is roughly double what the same purchase costs in Mississauga. Neither can be rolled into the mortgage.
The mistake people make. Forgetting that the first-time buyer rebates are separate and both are capped. Ontario and Toronto each run their own rebate with its own maximum, and above those maximums a first-time buyer pays the balance in full. The rebate is claimed, at registration or afterwards by application, rather than applied automatically, and a spouse’s prior home ownership can disqualify the claim entirely.
Frequently asked questions
How much is land transfer tax in Ontario?
Ontario charges it in marginal bands: 0.5% up to $55,000, 1.0% from $55,000 to $250,000, 1.5% from $250,000 to $400,000, 2.0% from $400,000 to $2,000,000, and 2.5% above $2,000,000.
Because the bands are marginal, a $800,000 home is not taxed at a flat 2%. Each portion of the price is taxed at its own rate and the results are added together.
Do I pay land transfer tax twice in Toronto?
Yes. Properties inside the City of Toronto attract a municipal land transfer tax in addition to the provincial one, and it uses the same bracket structure. In practice a Toronto buyer pays roughly double what an identical purchase elsewhere in Ontario would cost.
This is the single largest closing cost for most Toronto buyers, and it is the item most often missing from calculators built for other markets.
How much is the first-time home buyer rebate?
A qualifying first-time buyer can claim up to $4,000 against the Ontario land transfer tax, and a further $4,475 against the Toronto municipal tax: up to $8,475 combined on a Toronto purchase.
The rebate is capped, not proportional, so on a more expensive home it covers only part of the bill. You must generally never have owned a home anywhere in the world, and your spouse must not have owned one while you were married.
Can land transfer tax be added to my mortgage?
No. Land transfer tax is a closing cost payable in cash, and lenders will not finance it. It has to come from savings on top of your down payment, and your lawyer normally collects it as part of the closing funds.
This is a common and expensive surprise. Budget for it separately alongside legal fees, title insurance and the property tax adjustment.
Disclaimer
Estimates for educational purposes only. Verify your exact tax with your lawyer at closing.