Toronto’s new residential property tax increase is one of the most buzzed-about items in the city’s 2025 budget, marking the third-largest hike of the levy in the metropolis’s history, and coming on the heels of last year’s whopping 9.5 per cent bump.
Mayor Olivia Chow has stood by the controversial move, saying back when she floated the figure at the end of 2024 that the extra funds are needed for all of the “catching up” and “fixing” the city has to do when it comes to basic services, including the TTC, aging watermains and other capital projects.
This type of work is presently at an all-time high, with more than $1 billion in construction on the go this year between transit expansion and infrastructure upgrades. And, to fund all of this, Chow is relying on homeowners in the city, who will need to cough up an extra $268 per year, on average.
While Toronto has historically had fairly low tax rates compared to other jurisdictions, this is, in many people’s minds, offset by the monumental (and ever-growing) price of buying real estate here, along with the rising cost of living in the city in general, which includes far higher income and sales tax rates than virtually any U.S. city and other comparable locales.
For those who are lucky enough to own a place of their own — which they unfortunately very likely overpaid for if they purchased it anytime recently — here are the payment due dates for newly-heightened property taxes in the city in 2025, depending on what type of instalment plan you are enrolled in:
- Two-instalment plan: The City’s website states that the upcoming interim tax bill payment for those on a two-instalment (annually) plan will be due on March 3, with the final property tax bill due by July 2.
- Six-instalment plan: Homeowners who opted for a six-instalment plan will need to pay their interim tax bill in three chunks on on March 3, April 1 and May 1. The final property tax bill, which will arrive in May, will also need to be paid via three instalments due on July 2, August 1 and September 2.
- 11-instalment plan: People in this plan will need to pay their interim tax bill in five instalments, and their final tax bill in six. The due dates for the first five are February 18, March 17, April 15, May 15 and June 16. The due dates for the final six are July 15, August 15, September 15, October 15, November 17 and December 15.
Along with these deadlines, owners should remember that vacancy declarations are due by April 30 — missing it could leave you slammed with an undeserved vacant home tax bill.
As the City notes, “to avoid late fees and penalties, payments [for all bills] must be received by the City by the due date. Property owners enrolled in pre-authorized payment plans should ensure their account information is up to date to prevent any payment issues.”
