Should I Challenge My Property Tax Assessment?

Ontario property owners are receiving notices of assessment this year that will serve as a basis for tax collections in 2017 through 2020. Values are set by the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation ("MPAC") based on estimated January 1, 2016 market values. Municipalities will then use these assessments to determine your property taxes payable.

We are often asked by clients – and our colleagues! – whether there is any point in appealing the assessments. The answer, of course, is "it depends".

MPAC attempts to assess at a true market value, the value at which a property will sell if it is unencumbered by mortgages, below market leases or agreements that depress or inflate values.