Majority (58%) of Torontonians Support Reduction in the
Municipal Land Transfer Tax, Just 28% Oppose

Toronto, ON - A majority (58%) of Torontonians `support' (23% strongly/36% somewhat) `a reduction in the Land Transfer Tax paid by home buyers, instead of a complete repeal of the tax', according to a new Ipsos Reid poll conducted on behalf of the Toronto Real Estate Board. In contrast, just 28% `oppose' (14% strongly/14% somewhat) a reduction in the LTT, while 14% don't know which position they support.

In 2008, the City of Toronto began charging a municipal Land Transfer Tax on homebuyers when they purchase a home, in addition to the provincial Land Transfer Tax charged by the province. For the average Toronto homebuyer, the Toronto Land Transfer Tax amounts to about $7,800 payable in full when a home is purchased. Currently, first-time home buyers can qualify for a rebate of the Toronto Land Transfer Tax of up to $3,725, equal to the Toronto Land Transfer Tax owing on a $400,000 property. First-time home buyers who purchase a home priced up to $400,000 do not pay the tax. First-time home buyers who purchase a home priced over $400,000 pay only the amount of tax owing over the allowed rebate of $3,725. The current average home price in Toronto is $606,000.

Reflecting on this, a majority (52%) of Torontonians `support' (24% strongly/28% somewhat) `increasing the allowed Toronto Land Transfer Tax rebate for first-time home buyers, while one in three (32%) `oppose' (16% strongly/16% somewhat) this move, and 16% don't' know.

Asked if they would be more likely or less likely to support a candidate for Mayor or City Councillor in the next election if they supported reducing or eliminating the Land Transfer Tax, half (51%) say that they would be `more likely' (25% much more/26% somewhat) to support this candidate, while only one in ten (10%) would be `less likely' (4% much less/6% somewhat less). Four in ten (39%) say that a candidate's position on the municipal LTT wouldn't impact their vote at all.

One in ten (12%) Torontonians purchased a home in Toronto in the last three years. Among those that did, half (49%) say they did not qualify as a first-time home-buyer and paid the full amount of the LTT. Nearly three in ten (27%) say they qualified as a first-time homebuyer but paid some tax because the amount owing was over the maximum allowed exemption. Just two in ten (21%) say they did not pay the tax because they qualified as a first-time buyer and full exemption. This means that 57% of first-time buyers had to pay some Land Transfer Tax.

Among those who paid the Land Transfer Tax, if they didn't have to pay the tax they would have put their money towards their mortgage (45%), purchase furnishings or appliances (21%), home renovations (19%), or put it towards retirement or other savings (12%). Four percent (4%) don't know what they would have done with the money they saved from not having to pay the LTT.

These are the findings of an Ipsos Reid poll conducted from May 15th to 29th on behalf of the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB). For this survey, a sample of 526 Torontonians were surveyed online via the Ipsos I-Say Panel. Weighting was then employed to balance demographics to ensure that the sample's composition reflects that of the adult population according to Census data and to provide results intended to approximate the sample universe. The precision of Ipsos online polls are measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll is accurate to within +/- 4.9 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what the results would have been had all Torontonians been polled. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error.

For more information on this news release, please contact:

John Wright
Senior Vice President
Ipsos Reid
Public Affairs
416.324.2002
[email protected]

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