Ontarians paid the highest property tax in the country in 1998 while the Atlantic provinces paid the lowest on average, according to the most recent figures available from Statistics Canada.

The 1999 survey released Wednesday was based on 1998 figures. It shows that annual property tax averaged $2,230 in Ontario and $2,030 in Quebec. By contrast, homeowners in Newfoundland and Labrador paid an average of $640.

Canadian homeowners paid 2.9 per cent of family income in property taxes in 1998, one-seventh of the 21.3 per cent they paid in income tax.

However, the ratio between the two taxes differed greatly according to the level of family income, the survey found.
Families with income less than $20,000 paid more than twice as much in property taxes (10 per cent of annual income) as they did in income taxes (four per cent).

Families earning $100,000 or more paid just 1.8 per cent of their income on property taxes and 28.6 per cent on income tax.

The effective property tax rate (tax paid on a property relative to its value) was highest in Quebec and Manitoba at 1.9 per cent, with Saskatchewan following at 1.8 per cent.

All other provinces had rates of 1.2 per cent or lower. In British Columbia, which had the highest property values, the effective rate was just 0.7 per cent.

Homeowners below Statistics Canada low-income cut-offs paid relatively large proportions of their incomes in property taxes: 11.7 per cent for the elderly and 10.8 per cent for the non-elderly.

However, low-income homeowners had much higher assets, in terms of home equity and other financial assets, than low-income renters.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1059058327636_91

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