Over 43,000 complaint notices filed for Toronto homeowners who failed to declare vacant home status

Tens of thousands of Toronto residents who live in their homes are now being forced to contest bills for thousands of dollars because they failed to declare whether their home was vacant.

Some say they didn’t know they had to claim their occupancy while a few say they did fill out the forms on time and still received a bill.

The Vacant Home Tax, which kicked off in 2022, requires homeowners to confirm whether they or someone else is living on their property.

Homeowners had until March 15 to make their declaration, and if the home is vacant, they face an additional one per cent tax based on the assessed value of their property.

After many residents took to social media to say they had received a bill, the city opened a complaint portal on its website on Tuesday.

As of Wednesday, over 43,000 notices had been filed by owners claiming that their property was indeed occupied in 2023, but they still received a bill. Toronto’s City Hall was filled Wednesday with homeowners attempting to clarify their status.

Sandra and Karen say they woke up to distressing letters in their mailboxes. One was a bill for $4,700, the other was for more than $7,000.

“And I know it’s not just us because … five other people, they’ve come to me and said, ‘Sandra, what do I do with this?'” she said.

“I know for me, I’m a single mom, and [to] get a $4,000 bill, that’s quite a bill when I already pay $4,000 in property taxes, so I would like an answer from Olivia Chow. What are you going to do about this?” added Karen.

The city imposed the home vacancy tax to discourage property owners from keeping homes empty during the housing crisis. Even though most won’t have to pay the tax, Karen and Sandra say they don’t recall being notified to declare this year like they were when the tax first kicked in.

CityNews has also spoken to homeowners who did declare their status by the March 15 deadline and still got billed.

“I filled this out. Is there a glitch in the system? There must be something going on that they are not getting the proper information,” said Lori Mrasek, who still received a bill.

Those who failed to declare their home status but disputed the Vacant Home Tax bill they received are still charged a $21 fine.

But in an update on Thursday night, a City of Toronto spokesperson urged residents to not pay the $21 fine.

“DO NOT PAY THE LATE FEE: The late fee will be immediately waived for anyone who states that they completed the declaration before the Friday, March 15 deadline,” the statement said.

“Furthermore, given the challenges experienced with this year’s process, the Budget Chief and Mayor will be bringing forward direction to Toronto City Council to seek authority to waive the $21.24 late fee for everyone impacted this calendar year.”

Mayor Olivia Chow responded to the influx of complaints and the tax’s implementation, saying that the city was working on trying to rectify this year’s messy rollout.

“I apologize. By the time I arrived here, the system was already set. I’m seeing the impact of it. It is not acceptable the way that we rolled out this program. It is very new, as you know. I promise you that I will clean this up,” she said. “I understand the frustration… It wasn’t developed to harass homeowners who live in their home.”

Chow added those who say they registered prior to the deadline and still received the bill will have the fine waived.