Residents grapple with cumbersome vacant tax audit

Julie Provost collects all the paper work required for her mother’s vacant unit tax audit. The city says more than 1,500 residents are being audited under the bylaws. (Leah Larocque/CTV News Ottawa)

Just as the Vacant Unit Tax portal opens for residents to declare they live in their own homes, some residents were stunned to get a letter in the mail from the city telling them they have been audited.

The City of Ottawa says it has audited 1,525 properties through the Vacant Unit Tax by-law, with more residences being subject to a review in the coming months.

Julie Provost’s mother, a 94-year-old woman living in Ottawa, is being audited as part of the bylaw.

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"She received a letter so she asked me to take a look because she was being audited," Provost said.

"I was a little surprised that now she has to prove she actually lives in her own home."

Provost says she is helping because the options are difficult for her mother.

"She is in her 90's, she doesn’t do internet at all and going there in-person is difficult for her mobility," she said.

"All those options seem like a lot of work for someone who has been living in their own home for 40 years and now has to prove they are still living in their home."

The Vacant Unit Tax was implemented in 2022 to encourage homeowners to occupy or rent their properties to address the affordable housing crisis in the city.

All revenue collected from the tax will go into the city's funds for more affordable housing. The city says there were 3,743 vacant homes in Ottawa in 2022.

Properties that are vacant for more than 184 days of the previous calendar year are taxed at a rate of one per cent of the property's assessed value.

Audited residents are being given 30 days upon receipt of the letter to provide the documents to the city.

Residents must provide two of the following if they are audited in the process:

• An Ontario vehicle registration or vehicle insurance documentation of any occupant of the residence

• Government-issued personal identification of any occupant

• A minimum of seven months of utility bills in the name of the occupant (hydro, gas, internet, etc.)

• Any government correspondence showing the occupant's name and address

Those who do not comply, will be charged the Vacant Unit Tax. A letter of determination will be issued and additional fines or penalties could be considered, the letter said.

Provost calls the process cumbersome.

"There is a lot that she has to do. She has to produce government issued identification, but unfortunately she is older, she doesn’t drive, she doesn’t have a government issues ID other than an OHIP card, which they don’t accept," she said.

The alternative is to provide insurance papers or seven months of tax bills from 2022.

A tablet showing the vacant unit tax declaration page on the city of Ottawa's website. (Leah Larocque/CTV News Ottawa)Provost says she will submit the paper work for her mother on time but hopes the city can come up with a better process next year.

"I am surprised they haven’t come up with a better solution than this," she said.

"I don’t see why the onus is on the homeowner.”

Last year’s declaration process was met with confusion from some residents who were not sure if they needed to declare.

Orléans West-Innes Coun. Laura Dudas says she has been in conversations with city staff about the tax declaration process. Dudas put a motion to council to scrap the vacant tax, but it was voted down.

"Ottawa through this process is going through some growing pains, but my concern has always been innocent homeowners being caught up in this process. I am hopeful that city staff can figure it out so the onus isn’t all on residents," she said.

The portal is now open for residents to declare their properties. The deadline is March 21, 2024.

"The best way for residents is to declare early, get it done, make it part of your checklist before Christmas," Dudas said.

"Just get it done because the last thing that any of us want to do, myself included, is to forget and put it off to the deadline."