Several municipalities throughout Canada are charging a fee for processing tax payments collected by financial institutions – this fee can be passed on to the homeowner.

For those homeowners that are transferring their mortgage to another financtial institution and have previously included the property tax component in their mortgage payment, it is important to clarify how the property tax portion is processed on a payout statement. Any unused portion of property tax in a ‘sundry account’ may be deducted from the mortgage balance rather than applied as a tax payment to the municipality.

If this happens, this can create unpleasant surprises of unpaid property tax bills for the homeowner which will require attention and can take time to sort out.

In most cases homeowners can assume the responsibility to pay the property tax on their own by way of preauthorized arrangements direct with your City Tax Department.