Property Tax

MPAC is in the final stages of preparing the 2012 CVA Assessment Notices to be mailed to property owners. You may have already received your notice for your home, while the industrial and commercial sectors are the next group to receive their notices.

AEC has been able to ascertain 7 facts about the updated values and re-assessment processes, which may help you as a taxpayer:

Property Taxes represent the single largest controllable expense impacting commercial and industrial properties in Canada. In Ontario, the province-wide property tax reassessment occurring in 2012 for the taxation years 2013 to 2016 will affect all non-residential properties. MPAC has started mailing out over 5,000,000 property assessments notices (September 13 to November 16). This assessment is based on the Jan 1, 2012 valuation date and is effective for the 4 years (property taxes for 2013 to 2016). It is important to note that market increases between 2008 to 2012 will be phased in and decreases will be applied immediately. Key dates are:

It's that time of the year again ... Non-residential property owners and occupiers in Calgary, mark your calendars! The City has announced that its 2013 Advanced Consultation Period will start on October 4 and continute until October 31, 2012. During this time, taxpayers are given the opportunity to engage in a 2-way exchange of information discussing property and business specific questions in advance of the 2013 Assessment Notice mailing. Upon contacting the City, taxpayers are provided with the preliminary 2013 property or business assessment.

Representatives must have valid Authorization of Agency (AOA) filed with the City of Calgary prior to the commencement of any discussions during the 3 week period.

Customer Review Period

Following the mailing of the 2013 assessment notices in January 2013, all taxpayers will have a 60 day period in which to participate in discussions regarding the correctness and fairness of the subject assessment. The values reflected on the 2013 assessment notices will be based on the market value of property and the typical net annual rental value of the business space as of July 01, 2012.

In what is a massive change to the City's taxation process, the City of Calgary is consolidating its business tax with non-residential property tax. A change of this magnitude will require an implementation period of 7 years, with the phased rate breakdown detailed by in the City of Calgary Business Tax Consolidation website.

Great News ... Hot off the Presses!

Service Nova Scotia has announced several major changes to its appeal process and the publication of real estate sale prices.

AEC is proud to have been a participant in the stakeholder consultations that has allowed for this positive legislation change to be passed. The changes are expected to be implemented for the 2013 assessments.

Read here for full details on the changes, and it's impact on your assessment appeals.

This is my first official blog entry and comes as part of our new website. As a idea guy, I'm going to use this blog to share a bit about my journey, ideas and introduce some tools and concepts that I use to filter ideas, address dangers faced by our clients and talk a lot about confidence and the role that it plays for each of us. 

I came across an interesting situation yesterday that emphasizes the inherent risk or danger in today's world.  The issue related to a newly developed retirement home facilitiy that was being operated by a Receiver. The conservation started with an inquiry as to whether the taxes were in line and whether an appeal was warranted in an effort to assist operations and support cash flow from a struggling development.

Within about five minutes of legwork it became apparent that the original opportunity was in fact posing a greater risk and at the end of the day we have identified a sizable liability that was not otherwise understood. My view on this situation focuses on supporting my own personal confidence and those that are potentially affected by this previously unknown or un-stated liability. (i.e. a new and otherwise unknown danger)

Can we help the client with this situation...absolutely. Are there day to day challenges that the client has in execution of their mandate that impact their abilty to be confident and supporting the confidence of their client or stakeholders...absolutely.