How do i pay for my property tax bill in Toronto? What are the various choices and options available to make payment?

Question

I have been renting an apartment for quite many years and finally i have decided to get a place of my own. I purchased a condominium recently and i pay monthly maintenance fees to the condominium management. Is my property tax included in the monthly maintenance fees or will i get a separate bill from the city asking me to pay for property tax? When i used to rent in the past, i never had to worry about paying for property tax because i didn't have to pay for it. I only paid the rent required by the apartment and i also paid for electricity bills but not for the water bill.

Due to increase in the rate of rent prices i figured it was getting too expensive to continue renting. I realized that i could own a place of my own with the same amount of money i spent on renting. The only problem i faced was coming up with a down payment. Over the years, i haven't been saving much and i had been enjoying my life to the fullest until one day, it dawned upon me that i need to get a place of my own. Luckily for me, i had friends and families members who contributed towards loaning me a down payment to purchase my own condominium. I promised to pay them back bit by bit each month and that was what i have been doing for the past one month.

Answer 1

City of Toronto issues a property tax bill to all homeowners twice a year, or four times a year. In the property tax bill, it will show how much is your property worth with an assessed value and based on this assessed value, your property tax is calculated. It will also tell you how much property tax you need to pay and the due date you need to pay to avoid penalty charges. If you are the new owner of your property, you will find your name in the first property tax bill. 

There are several common ways to pay your Property tax bill:

1. You can pay for your property tax bill through your banks either in person at the Teller or using your bank's online banking website. If paying at the bank counter, simply present the property tax bill to the bank teller and they will handle the rest. Just tell them which account you want the money to come out from to pay the property tax bill.

You can also pay online using your bank website or Phone app. 

• You should sign in to your bank online account first.
• You will need your 21 Digits assessment roll no located on the top left corner of your property tax bill.
• Select one of the following as the payee: City of Toronto, Toronto, Property Taxes or Toronto Tax.

2. You can only mail in your Cheques (No Cash) Payable to:

Treasurer, City of Toronto

Box 5000

Toronto

Ontario

M2N 5V1

3. You can arrange for your mortgage company to pay your property taxes on your behalf. How it works is that your monthly mortgage payment will include a portion of the property taxes so that you do not have to worry about remembering to pay for your property tax bill. The banks will receive information from the City of Toronto about approximate property taxes for the year and based on this information the banks will integrate the mortgage payment with this property taxes monthly. So what you are paying your banks monthly will have mortgage payments and property taxes included. If there happen to be a surplus or deficit of property taxes payment by the end of the year, the banks will automatically adjust accordingly.

Answer 2

Watch video on "How your property taxes is calculated for your home in Ontario" :