Effective April 1, 2026, the City of Toronto introduced new luxury bands within the Municipal Land Transfer Tax (MLTT) on residential transactions over $3M. The structure: 4.4% on the $3M–$4M slice, 5.45% on $4M–$5M, 6.5% on $5M–$10M, 7.55% on $10M–$20M, and 8.6% above $20M. These are the City's MLTT rates — they sit on top of the unchanged Ontario Land Transfer Tax (which tops out at 2.5% on the slice above $2M for properties with one or two single-family residences).
On a $5M Toronto purchase, the combined LTT exposure is approximately $189,000 — roughly $33,000 higher than it would have been at the pre-April-2026 rates. On a $10M purchase, the increase widens to approximately $130,000 over the prior schedule.
First-time buyers retain rebates of up to $4,000 (Ontario) plus $4,475 (Toronto) — those amounts are unaffected by the luxury bands and rarely make a meaningful dent in the closing-cost line for a buyer at the luxury end of the market.
Foreign-buyer exposure is even more significant. The 25% Ontario Non-Resident Speculation Tax (NRST) and the additional 10% Municipal NRST (in force on Toronto registrations from January 1, 2025) compound on top of the new MLTT bands. On a $5M Toronto purchase by a foreign buyer of a single-family residence, the combined LTT, MLTT, NRST, and MNRST closing-cost exposure now exceeds $1.95M — material enough to change deal economics on most cross-border purchases.
Two practical points. Adjustments statements and trust-ledger templates need to be rebuilt to reflect the new bands. Counsel who closed only one or two luxury files in the first quarter of 2026 should expect the new schedule on every Toronto closing above $3M from now on. And buyers structuring private-company purchases or estate-driven transfers should re-run the math on whether a different ownership structure (corporate ownership, trust ownership, joint tenancy with right of survivorship) changes the closing-cost picture before signing the agreement of purchase and sale.
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