By: Nathan Lawrence

If you’re a house hunter or are planning in the future to be buying a home, the costs to close a house purchase might be getting more expensive.  Earlier this week, the Ontario Government stated that they are moving forward with their plans to allow municipalities with the ability to charge home buyers a municipal land transfer tax.  This potential new land transfer tax would be above and beyond the current Ontario Land Transfer Tax that home buyers are currently required to pay as part of their closing costs.

As the Ontario Government looks at news ways to address revenue challenges facing communities across the province, this is a quick way to generate revenue for municipalities across the province.  This is NOT good new for home owners and house hunters.  This is something that the Ontario Real Estate Association (OREA) has been working hard to advocate against the Ontario Government moving forward with their plans to increase the cost burden to home buyers. It has the potential to turn Ontario into the province with the highest closing costs on Real Estate transactions in North America.

For more details about the potential changes, take a few minutes to read the full article posted by the Financial Post. http://business.financialpost.com/personal-finance/mortgages-real-estate/ontario-about-to-double-homebuyers-burden-by-allowing-municipalities-to-charge-land-transfer-tax