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I am considering the purchase of a condo in Montreal and am a little confused about how property taxes are levied up there. I understand that both municipal and school taxes are assessed separately. Are each of these taxes assessed using a percentage of assessed value? purchase price? If assessed value, how does that typically relate to market value (if at all)? Are there exemptions available? Do foreigners pay a different rate than Canadians? In short, how much should I expect to pay in annual property taxes (ball-park) per $100,000 purchase price? Any enlightenment on any of these questions would be greatly appreciated, as would a referral to a young and ambitious English-speaking real estate agent. Thanks in advance.
I am considering the purchase of a condo in Montreal and am a little confused about how property taxes are levied up there. I understand that both municipal and school taxes are assessed separately. Are each of these taxes assessed using a percentage of assessed value? purchase price? If assessed value, how does that typically relate to market value (if at all)? Are there exemptions available? Do foreigners pay a different rate than Canadians? In short, how much should I expect to pay in annual property taxes (ball-park) per $100,000 purchase price? Any enlightenment on any of these questions would be greatly appreciated, as would a referral to a young and ambitious English-speaking real estate agent. Thanks in advance.
- Both municipal and school taxes are based on a property's assessed value. Except for major renovations or improvements, the assessed value is updated every 3 years following the latest assessment roll. Montreal's 2014-2016 roll is based on mid-2012 property values. A property's asking price is generally ~15-25% above assessed value and the actual price at closing is usually still a big higher than the assessment (say 10%), in good part because of the 18-month lag between the assessment date and the date the roll becomes effective. So if your mid-2014 purchase price is $100,000, chances are the mid-2012 assessed value is somewhere around $90,000. (obviously: good luck finding a $90k condo in Montreal) You can check the assessment roll here.
- City of Montreal property taxes depend on the borough (i.e. large neighborhood), see here. In general you can expect to pay ~$0.90 per $100 assessed value, i.e. $810 per $90,000 assessed value. Rates for individual suburbs will be different but that's a good ballpark expectation -- normally, except for newly constructed units, all real estate listings will have that info.
- The rate for school taxes is uniform on Montreal Island, for 2014-2015 it's ~$0.20 per $100 assessed value, so $180 school taxes per $90,000 assessed value. Outside of the island, the rate varies by school district but it is usually similar. Compared to most US states, Quebec schools are overwhelmingly funded through the provincial government (as opposed to local school districts), so we pay much higher provincial income taxes but have much lower school tax rates.
- As far as I know there are no exceptions to paying property and school taxes -- the residential unit is at the center of everything and it doesn't matter who owns it (foreign or local, person or corporation), all that matters is the assessed value (and city/borough rates). Some outlying suburbs may offer "no tax for the first year" deals, usually for detached housing.
We have a group who owns a Coop building in which the total taxes levied on the building is divided among us. Now, we are considering transferring the building into condos. Will the levied tax increase just because of the fact the building has become a condos instead of just one building unit.
We realize that each of us will pay his/her taxes independently and directly to the city, but the question is will the taxes increase or not?
We have a group who owns a Coop building in which the total taxes levied on the building is divided among us. Now, we are considering transferring the building into condos. Will the levied tax increase just because of the fact the building has become a condos instead of just one building unit.
We realize that each of us will pay his/her taxes independently and directly to the city, but the question is will the taxes increase or not?
Maybe, maybe not. The more pressing question is whether you would be allowed to do this -- if your coop building is within the city of Montreal, you likely cannot (although individual arrondissements have different rules). You really need to ask a notary, and the financial institution who holds the mortgage on your property.
There are two types of condos -- (a) divided condos and (b) buildings under undivided co-ownership. There is no difference from the outside but those are two different animals with very different legal implications. Under (b) there is still only one tax bill (to be paid by the co-ownership or split between the co-owners), mortgages must all be with the same financial institution (typically Desjardins), and there are some rather restrictive rules about renting out the unit. The upside is, as I understand it, it is much easier to convert a building into undivided co-ownership.
Thanks for the response. It is good that you are confirming what we have done with the undivided property, usually referred to as a coop.
My questions is whether the present real estate taxes which is levied on the assessed value of the whole property will increase when the same building (coop now) is divided into divided condos (forget the difficulty now). Your response was brief as it says "may be, may be not." The question now is based on what variables. Will the assessed value of the total of the divided property at one point of time be higher than the assessed value of the whole building as unit. Simply, I want to know May be, May Be Not based on What. what would make it the same or higher???
I appreciate your response to this particular question as all other issues will be worked out with lawyers and specialists.
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