More than 28,000 homeowners took advantage of early vacant unit tax declarations: City

Ottawa City Hall is seen in this undated file photo. (CTV News Ottawa)

Roughly 8.6 per cent of homeowners in Ottawa filled out their vacant unit tax (VUT) declarations early, according to the city.

The declaration period for reporting whether properties are vacant or occupied officially opened Jan. 2, but the City of Ottawa allowed residents to file as of Dec. 13, 2024. In that time, 28,474 declarations were filed.

"There are 330,631 homes that need to declare this year. We remind all residents to complete their declarations by the March 20 deadline," the Deputy City Treasurer Joseph Muhuni said in a statement to CTV News Ottawa.

Late applications are accepted until April 30, but any declaration made after March 20 comes with a $250 late fee.

Each year, all residential property owners are required to register the occupancy status of properties they own; if no declaration is made, the property will be deemed vacant and will be subject to the VUT. Vacant properties might be able to claim one of several exemptions to avoid having to pay the tax, but the owner must still declare the property's status. The VUT is equivalent to one per cent of a property's assessed value if the property was vacant for more than 184 days in the previous calendar year. For example, a residential unit with an assessed value of $415,000 that was declared vacant would result in an extra $4,150 on the owner's final property tax bill.

What's new in 2025

There are several new exemptions this year, including rural ineligible properties (ex. farms with residences, rural residential century homes, recreational hunt camps, or structures significantly damaged and not capable of being used for housing), hazardous properties outside of the owner’s control, and secondary residences occupied for medical care reasons. Owners can also claim a one-time retrofit renovation per property, where the unit is occupied within one year. These are in addition to previous exemptions such as principal residence, tenanted properties, properties occupied by a family member, friend, or other resident using it as their principal residence, sale of the property, court orders, vacancy due to the owner entering long-term care, death of the owner, or construction or renovation that kept the property vacant.

Also new this year is a graduated tax that increases for each consecutive year a property is declared vacant. The owner of a property that has been vacant for two years in a row is charged two per cent of the property's assessed value instead of one per cent. The graduated rate caps at five per cent after five consecutive years of vacancy.

A 15-month late appeal window beyond the current three-month appeal deadline is also new in 2025, allowing for late appeals with a $500 fee per assessed property.

How to declare

There are several ways to submit your declaration:

"To better support and serve residents, the City has improved and expanded declaration options as well as its communications and public information efforts on the program. The City will be sending notices to remind residents to declare via email and mail throughout the month of January. Public Services Announcements, tweets and reminders will continue to be issued until the deadline," Muhuni told CTV News Ottawa on Tuesday.

Money raised via the VUT is put toward housing projects in the city. The first full year of taxation on vacant properties raised $12.6 million in revenue, with $10.3 million being allocated to the city's housing long-range financial plan. It cost $2.28 million to administer the VUT program in its first year.