Planning tool
What land transfer tax will you owe?
Ontario charges land transfer tax on every residential purchase, and Toronto charges a second one on top. Enter your price and market to see both, along with the first-time buyer rebates and exactly which bracket each dollar of your purchase falls into.
Your purchase
Land transfer tax is calculated on the value of the consideration, which for most purchases is the price you pay.
Only the City of Toronto charges a municipal land transfer tax. Everywhere else in Ontario pays the provincial tax alone.
Land transfer tax payable at closing
$7,475
On a $750,000 purchase in Hamilton, after $4,000 in first-time buyer rebates. That works out to roughly 1.00% of the purchase price.
Ontario land transfer tax
$11,475
Payable on every Ontario purchase
Toronto municipal land transfer tax
Not applicable
Hamilton has no municipal land transfer tax
Line-by-line
This is money your lawyer collects on closing day. It cannot be added to the mortgage.
- Ontario land transfer tax
- $11,475
- Ontario first-time buyer refund
- − $4,000
- Total payable
- $7,475
The Ontario refund is capped at $4,000. Your lawyer normally claims it at registration so you never advance the money.
How the brackets work
Land transfer tax is graduated. Each rate applies only to the portion of the price that falls inside its bracket.
| Portion of the price | Ontario rate |
|---|---|
| Up to and including $55,000 | 0.5% |
| $55,000.01 to $250,000 | 1.0% |
| $250,000.01 to $400,000 | 1.5% |
| $400,000.01 to $2,000,000 | 2.0% |
| Over $2,000,000 | 2.5% |
The 2.5% top bracket applies to land containing one or two single-family residences, which covers almost every residential purchase.
What the same purchase costs elsewhere
Provincial tax only outside Toronto, at $750,000.
- Anywhere in Ontario outside Toronto
- $11,475
- Inside the City of Toronto
- $22,950
- The Toronto difference
- $11,475
Buying in Mississauga, Vaughan, Markham or Brampton means no municipal land transfer tax, which is a real closing-cost difference worth factoring into where you shop.
What this calculation assumes
- · Ontario land transfer tax rates are those published by the Ontario Ministry of Finance and apply to the value of the consideration.
- · Toronto municipal land transfer tax uses the City of Toronto rates in effect April 1, 2026, including the graduated high-value brackets above $3 million.
- · The Toronto administration fee is shown as a rounded approximation and is indexed by the City from time to time.
- · First-time buyer refunds are shown at their statutory maximums and can never exceed the tax otherwise payable.
- · Non-resident purchasers may also be subject to speculation taxes that are not calculated here.
- · Newly built homes purchased from a builder are generally subject to HST, which is usually included in the builder price. Resale homes are not.
Other calculators
Land transfer tax is only part of your cash requirement
Your down payment, legal fees, adjustments and the sales tax on default mortgage insurance all land on the same day. A readiness review maps the full cash-to-close figure before you write an offer.
Understanding the numbers
Land transfer tax, answered
Which Ontario cities charge a municipal land transfer tax?
Only the City of Toronto. Everywhere else in Ontario — Hamilton, Mississauga, Brampton, Vaughan, Markham, Oakville, Burlington, Kitchener, Waterloo, London, Ottawa and the rest — you pay the provincial land transfer tax alone. On a purchase in the high six figures, that difference is often more than ten thousand dollars, which is worth weighing when you decide which side of a municipal boundary to shop on.
How much is the first-time home buyer rebate?
Ontario refunds up to $4,000 of the provincial tax, which fully covers the tax on a home priced up to about $368,000 and reduces it above that. In Toronto there is a separate municipal rebate of up to $4,475. A first-time buyer purchasing in Toronto can therefore claim up to $8,475 in total. Neither rebate can exceed the tax that would otherwise be payable.
Who qualifies as a first-time buyer for this rebate?
You must be at least eighteen, a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, and you must occupy the home as your principal residence within nine months of the transfer. You cannot have owned a home, or an interest in one, anywhere in the world at any time. If you have a spouse, they cannot have owned a home while you were spouses — if they did, neither of you can claim the refund. Confirm your eligibility with your real estate lawyer.
Can I add land transfer tax to my mortgage?
No. Land transfer tax is a closing cost, payable in cash to your lawyer on closing day, and it cannot be financed into the mortgage. Lenders generally want to see roughly one and a half per cent of the purchase price available for closing costs in addition to your down payment, and land transfer tax is usually the largest single item in that total.
What changed in Toronto in April 2026?
The City of Toronto introduced graduated municipal rates on high-value residential properties containing one or two single-family residences, effective April 1, 2026. Below $2 million nothing changed. Above $3 million the municipal rate steps up through several brackets, reaching well beyond the previous flat structure on the highest-value purchases. The provincial tax was not affected.
When do I actually pay it?
Your real estate lawyer collects it as part of the funds you deliver before closing and remits it when the transfer is registered. If you are claiming a first-time buyer refund, your lawyer normally claims it at registration so the money is never advanced. If for some reason it is not claimed at registration, there is generally an eighteen-month window afterward to apply.
Why this matters early
Land transfer tax decides how far your cash goes.
Buyers plan the down payment carefully and then discover the closing costs three weeks before closing. Land transfer tax is usually the biggest of them, it cannot be added to the mortgage, and it does not shrink if your financing comes together nicely. Knowing the number before you write an offer changes how much you leave in reserve.
It also changes where you shop. The same house at the same price costs materially more inside Toronto than it does in Mississauga, Vaughan or Hamilton, purely because of the municipal tax. For buyers who are flexible on location, that is a real part of the comparison.
Closing-day cash, in order of size
Your down payment
The balance of it, less any deposit already paid to the seller’s brokerage in trust when your offer was accepted.
Land transfer tax
Provincial everywhere, plus municipal in Toronto, net of any first-time buyer rebate your lawyer claims at registration.
Legal fees and disbursements
Your lawyer’s fee, title search costs, registration fees and title insurance. Commonly in the range of $1,800 to $2,800 on a purchase with a mortgage.
Sales tax on mortgage insurance
If your down payment is under twenty per cent, Ontario charges provincial sales tax on the insurance premium. The premium can be financed; the tax on it cannot.
Adjustments
You reimburse the seller for property tax, utilities and in some cases fuel they prepaid beyond the closing date.
Next step
Plan the whole cash requirement, not just the down payment.
A purchase-readiness review maps what you need on closing day and where it can legitimately come from, before you are committed to a closing date.
A real person reviews your scenario. This platform does not issue automated approvals, and no financing outcome is guaranteed.