Toronto increasing Vacant Home Tax audits
The City of Toronto appears to be ramping up its Vacant Home Tax (VHT) audit program. While historically there has been minimal compliance or enforcement activity undertaken, as of March 4, 2024 a total of 466 properties were under audit according to information received from the City. Since the increased audit activity seems to be new, it is possible that the affected homeowners are not yet aware that an audit of their property has commenced.
Such increased audit activity appears to be in line with a September 19, 2023 report to the City’s Executive Committee. In that report, the Chief Financial Officer noted that “audit activities for the 2022 taxation year [would] begin once onboarding of new staff is completed.” The City also opened a telephone hotline for reporting properties believed to be vacant.
For a detailed explanation of the VHT, see our previous blog.