TL;DR — Key Points to Know
- Toronto’s Vacant Home Tax is 3% of your property’s assessed value in 2026. On a $750,000 condo, that is a $22,500 bill.
- Every residential owner must file an annual declaration, even if you live in the unit. Miss the deadline and the city deems the property vacant automatically.
- A legally registered Toronto Airbnb is by definition your principal residence — so you declare “principal residence” and owe no tax. The paperwork is what matters.
- Investment properties and Mississauga owners sit in the grey zone: check the local rules, keep occupancy records, and never skip the declaration.
- False declarations carry fines of $250 to $10,000. File honestly, file every year, and keep your STR registration and declaration consistent.
Table of Contents
- The short answer
- What the Vacant Home Tax is in 2026
- Who must declare (everyone)
- Toronto Airbnb hosts: the principal-residence link
- Investment properties and Mississauga
- Exemptions
- What happens if you miss the deadline
- The math on a real condo
- Frequently Asked Questions
The Short Answer
If your Toronto Airbnb is your principal residence — which the city’s short-term rental bylaw already requires — the Vacant Home Tax does not cost you anything. You declare the property as your principal residence, and that is the end of it.
The risk is not the tax itself. The risk is the paperwork. Skip the annual declaration and the city can deem your condo vacant, landing you with a tax of 3% of its assessed value. That is the most expensive form you will ever forget to file.
This guide covers the 2026 rules: the rate, the deadline, who declares, and what Airbnb owners specifically need to get right.
What the Vacant Home Tax Is in 2026
Toronto’s Vacant Home Tax applies to any residential property that sits unoccupied for more than six months of the calendar year and is not the owner’s principal residence. The goal is simple: push empty homes back into use.
The 2026 rate is 3% of the property’s Current Value Assessment (CVA). That is the assessed value MPAC assigns your property. The city raised the rate to make vacancy genuinely painful — at 3%, even a modest condo produces a five-figure bill.
The 2025 occupancy declaration deadline was April 30, 2026. Each year the city sets one deadline for declaring the previous year’s occupancy status. Miss it, and the consequences are automatic — no warning letter, no grace period.
The tax is not new. Toronto introduced it in 2022, and the city reports it is working: vacant homes fell from 6,944 in 2022 to 5,989 in 2024. Enforcement is real, and it is getting stricter, not looser.
Who Must Declare (Everyone)
This is the part most owners get wrong. Every residential property owner in Toronto must file the annual declaration — including owners who live in their home. Occupied, rented, second home, investment condo: you file.
The declaration is filed online through the city’s portal, by phone through 311, or in person at City Hall or a civic centre. You need the assessment roll number and customer number from your property tax bill. It takes a few minutes.
Why force everyone to file? Because the system works by exception. The city does not know your property is occupied unless you tell it. No declaration means no information — and the bylaw’s default when it has no information is “vacant.”
Toronto Airbnb Hosts: The Principal-Residence Link
Here is where Toronto’s two sets of rules connect neatly. Under the city’s short-term rental bylaw (Chapter 547), you can only host short-term rentals in your principal residence. One home, one registration, and a $390 annual STR registration with the number displayed on every listing.
That same principal-residence status is what keeps you clear of the Vacant Home Tax. On the VHT declaration, you select “principal residence.” The property is occupied by definition. No tax is assessed.
Two things to keep aligned:
Your STR registration and your VHT declaration must tell the same story. If you registered a condo with the city as your principal residence for short-term rental purposes, then declare it as a vacant investment property on the VHT form, you have a contradiction on government records. Keep them consistent.
Renting out rooms while you live there changes nothing. Toronto allows room rentals with no annual night cap when you stay in the home. That is still a principal residence. It is still “occupied.” The 180-night cap on entire-home rentals does not affect the VHT status either — nights you are not hosting are nights you live there.
Investment Properties and Mississauga
The clean answer above only covers a Toronto principal residence. Other setups need more care.
A Toronto condo you do not live in. You cannot legally run it as a short-term rental under Chapter 547 — principal residence is the rule, no exceptions. If you hold it empty while deciding what to do, every vacant month counts toward the six-month threshold. Rent it long-term, live in it, or sell it — but do not let it sit undeclared. Our Ontario Airbnb tax guide covers the income-tax side of holding property you do not live in.
Mississauga. Toronto’s Vacant Home Tax is a City of Toronto program — it does not apply across the border. Mississauga owners follow Mississauga’s STR rules instead (city licence, $283 a year, $2 million liability insurance). But other Ontario cities are adopting their own vacant-property programs — Ottawa and Hamilton already have one — so check the local rules wherever you own, and assume the direction of travel is more vacancy taxes, not fewer.
Keep occupancy records either way. If your property’s status could ever be questioned, booking records, utility bills, and lease documents are your evidence. Airbnb payout records prove the unit was in use. A manager who runs the operation keeps all of this organized — see what Toronto management fees actually cover.
Exemptions
A small set of exemptions can excuse vacancy, but each must be claimed on the declaration and backed with documentation. The city can audit and will ask for proof. The main categories:
Death of the owner. The property was vacant for six months or more because the owner died.
Renovations or repairs. Normal occupation was prevented for at least six months, all required permits were issued, and the work is proceeding without unnecessary delay.
Medical care. The principal resident spent at least six months in hospital or long-term care. This one can be claimed for up to two consecutive tax years.
Ownership transfer. The property was vacant for six months or more because legal ownership transferred to an arm’s-length buyer.
Employment. The property is required for occupation for employment purposes for at least six months, by an owner whose principal residence is outside the Greater Toronto Area.
Court order. A court order prohibited occupancy for at least six months of the year.
None of these apply automatically. You claim them on the declaration, with supporting documents, or they do not exist.
What Happens If You Miss the Deadline
The sequence is mechanical:
1. Deemed vacant. No declaration on file means the property is assessed as vacant. The 3% tax is calculated on the CVA and added to your property tax bill.
2. Complaint window. You can file a Notice of Complaint disputing the assessment — but now the burden is on you to prove the property was occupied, after the fact, with evidence. Far harder than filing the form on time.
3. Fines. Failing to declare or making a false declaration carries fines from $250 up to $10,000. A false declaration to dodge a $22,500 tax bill is a bet with terrible odds.
The lesson from every enforcement story is the same: the declaration is the whole game. Five minutes, once a year, with numbers from your tax bill. Set a calendar reminder for January.
The Math on a Real Condo
The tax is 3% of CVA, not market value, and CVA often lags the market — but it is still a large number.
A downtown one-bedroom assessed at $600,000 faces an $18,000 tax if deemed vacant. A two-bedroom assessed at $850,000 faces $25,500. For context, Toronto’s average Airbnb revenue runs about $1,467 a month citywide — roughly $17,600 a year. A single deemed-vacant assessment can wipe out more than a full year of hosting revenue.
Against that, the cost of compliance is zero: the declaration is free, and your STR registration ($390 a year) already requires you to maintain the principal-residence status that exempts you. The tax only bites owners who ignore the paperwork.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does running an Airbnb make my condo “occupied” for the Vacant Home Tax?
The cleanest answer for Toronto hosts: your STR must be your principal residence by law, so you declare it as such and the occupied/vacant question never arises. The declaration category that protects you is “principal residence,” not “Airbnb.”
Do I really have to declare if I live in my condo?
Yes. Every residential owner files annually, even principal-residence owners. No declaration means the property is deemed vacant regardless of the truth.
What was the 2026 filing deadline?
April 30, 2026 for the 2025 occupancy declaration. The city sets one deadline each year for the previous year’s status — watch for the next one in early 2027 and file early.
How is the 3% calculated?
Three percent of the property’s Current Value Assessment (CVA) — the MPAC assessed value, not the market price. A $750,000 CVA means a $22,500 tax bill.
Does the Vacant Home Tax apply in Mississauga?
No. It is a City of Toronto program. Mississauga owners follow Mississauga’s own short-term rental rules. Other Ontario cities (Ottawa, Hamilton) run their own vacancy-tax programs with different rates and deadlines.
Can I claim an exemption for a condo under renovation?
Possibly — if normal occupation was prevented for at least six months, all permits were issued, and the work is proceeding without unnecessary delay. You must claim it on the declaration with supporting documentation; the city can audit it.
The Vacant Home Tax is a paperwork tax more than a property tax: the owners who pay it are the ones who forgot the form. Keep your STR registration and your VHT declaration telling the same principal-residence story, file every year, and it costs you nothing. If the compliance stack — registration, declarations, taxes, pricing, turnovers — is more than you want to carry alone, a Toronto Airbnb management company keeps the whole operation, paperwork included, running on schedule.