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Toronto councillor pushes for speculation tax to cool 'insanity' of escalating real estate prices
Note: this article is just over a month old. Just found it now via another source and saw it hadn't been posted here.CBC News · Posted: Dec 06, 2021 4:00 AM ET
Ontario brought in speculation tax in 1974 but later modified it, then scrapped it
As real estate prices soar across Ontario, a Toronto city councillor is about to introduce a motion asking the provincial government to bring in a speculation tax aimed at putting a chill into the red-hot housing market.
(snip)
It wouldn't be the first time a tax like this was introduced in Ontario. The Bill Davis government brought in a speculation tax in the 1970s to cool Ontario's real estate market.
While some experts say the province needs to address sky-high prices that have outpaced incomes, they caution such a tax could have an "aggressive" impact. They further say the rate of the tax and how it's implemented are crucial.
Others warn it could crash the market and that any measure to deter investors could have unintended consequences.
(snip)
It wouldn't be the first time a tax like this was introduced in Ontario. The Bill Davis government brought in a speculation tax in the 1970s to cool Ontario's real estate market.
While some experts say the province needs to address sky-high prices that have outpaced incomes, they caution such a tax could have an "aggressive" impact. They further say the rate of the tax and how it's implemented are crucial.
Others warn it could crash the market and that any measure to deter investors could have unintended consequences.
cont'd....
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/toronto-city-councillor-calls-for-speculation-tax-1.6271555
ONTARIO TRIED A SPECULATION TAX ON PROPERTY, AND THE MARKET ‘COLLAPSED OVERNIGHT’
Story by: Garry Marr | FinancialPost
For decades, Barry Lebow has kept a scrapbook of one of the most traumatic business days in life.
There are some dates you always remember, and for the Ontario real estate industry it’s April 9, 1974. That is the day the province shocked the sector by announcing a 50 per cent land speculation tax.
“We had no wind of this,” said Lebow, now 69, and still a Toronto realtor. “I was 27 years old and I owned 53 houses the day (speculation tax) came in.
“We were the largest home buyers in Toronto, my (financial) partners and myself. I went to bed a millionaire and woke up owing about $1.5 million the next morning.”
There are some dates you always remember, and for the Ontario real estate industry it’s April 9, 1974. That is the day the province shocked the sector by announcing a 50 per cent land speculation tax.
“We had no wind of this,” said Lebow, now 69, and still a Toronto realtor. “I was 27 years old and I owned 53 houses the day (speculation tax) came in.
“We were the largest home buyers in Toronto, my (financial) partners and myself. I went to bed a millionaire and woke up owing about $1.5 million the next morning.”
cont'd...
https://www.rentalhousingbusiness.ca/ontario-tried-a-speculation-tax-on-property-and-the-market-collapsed-overnight/